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FRINpJETON, N. J.
No. Case, /^^
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No. Book,__^
The John IM. Krelts Donation
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■■:KA^M0SSailk(t^. li^^d
THE WORLD TO COME;
OR,
DISCOURSES
ON THE
JOYS OR SORROWS OF DEPARTED SOULS
AT DEATH/
AKD THE
GLORY OR TERROR OF THE
RESURRECTION.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED,
AN ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF OF A SEPARATE STATE OF
SOULS AFTER DEATH.
By I. WATTS, D. D.
FHOM THE FIFTH ESfOilSH EDITION.
HAVERHILL :
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY BURRILL AND TILESTON, AND
SOLD AT THEIR BOOKSTORE.
1816.
PREFACE.
AMOJ^G all the solemn and important things
which relate to religion, there is nothing that strikes the
soul of man with so much awe and solemnity as the
scenes of death, and the dreadful or delightful conse-
quences which attend it. Who can think of entering
into that unknown region where spirits dwell, without
the stongest impressions upon the mind arising from so
strange a manner of existence P Who can take a sur-
vey of the resurrection of the millions of the dead, and of
the tribunal of Christ, whence men and angels must
receive their doom, without the most painful solicitude,
what will my sentence be ? Who can meditate on the
intense and unmingled pleasure or pain in the world to
come, without the most pathetic emotions of soul, since
each of us must be determined to one of these states, and
they are both of everlasting duration ?
These are the things that touch the springs of every
passion in the most sensible manner, and raise our hopes
and our fears to their supreme exercise. These are
the subjects with which our blessed Saviour and his
apostles frequently entertained their hearei's, in order to
persuade them to hearken and attend to the divine les-
sons which they published amongst them. These were
some of the sharpest weapons of their holy warfare,
which entered into the inmost vitals of mankind, and
pierced their consciences with the highest solicitude.
These have been the happy means to awaken thousands
of sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and to allure
and hasten them to enter into that glorious refuge that is
set before them in the gospel.
^
IV PREFACE.
It is for the same reason that 1 have selected a few
discourses on these ars^uments out of my public minis-
try, to set them before the eyes of the world in a more
iniblic manner, that if -possible some thoughtless crea-
tures might be roused out of their sinful slumbers, and
might awake into a spiritual and eternal life, through
the concurring influences of the blessed spirit.
I am not willing to disappoint my readers, and there-
fore I would let them knoic beforehand, that they ivill
find very little in this book to gratify their curiosity about
the many questions relating to the invisible world, and
the things ichich God has not jdainly revealed. Sorne-
thing of this kind perhaps may be found in two discour-
ses of death and heaven, which I published long ago :
hut in the present discourses Ihave very much neglected
such curious enquiries. JVor will the ear that has an
itch for controversy be much entertained here, for I
have avoided matters of doubtful debate. JSTor need the
most zealous man of orthodoxy fear to be led astray into
new and dangerous sentiments, if he will but take the
plainest and most evident dictates of scripture for his
direction into all truth.
My only design has been to set the great and most
mo7nentous things of a future world in the most convinc-
ing and affecting light, and to enforce them upon the
conscience with all the fervor that such subjects demand
and require, t^tnd may our blessed Iledeemer who reigns
Lord of the invisible world, pronounce these words with
a divine poiver to the heart of every man who shall
either read or hear them.
The treatise which is set as an introduction to this book,
was printed several years ago without the author's name,
and there in a short preface represented to the reader
these few reasons of its ivriting a7id publication, viz.
The principles of atheism and infidelity have pre-
vailed so far upon our age^ as to break in upon the
PREFACE. V
sacred fences of virtue and piety, and to destroy the
noblest and most effectual springs of true and vital
religion ; / mean those which are contained in the
hlessed gospel. The doctrine of the resurrection of the
body, and the consequent states of heaven and hell, is a
guard and motive of divine force ; but it is renounced by
the enemies of our holy Christianity. And should we
give up the recompences of separate souls, while the
deist denies the resurrection of the body, I fear between
both we should sadly enfeeble and expose the cause of
virtue, and leave it too naked and defenceless. The
christian would have but one persuasive of this kind
remaining, and the deist would have none at all.
It is necessary therefore to be upon our guard and to
establish every motive that ice can derive either from
reason or scripture, to secure religion in the world.
The doctrine of the state of separate spirits, and the
commencement of rewards and punishments immediately
after death, is one of those sacred fences of virtue which
we borrow from scripture, and it is highly favored by
reason ; and therefore it may not be unseasonable to pub-
lish such arguments as may tend to the sujiport of it.
In this edition of this small treatise, I have added
several paragraphs and pages to defend the same doc-
trine ; and the last section contains an answer to va-
rious new objections which I had not met with when I
first began to write on this subject. I hope it is set upon
such a firm foundation of many scriptures as cannot
possibly be overturned ; nor do I think it a very easy
matter any way to evade the force of them. May the
grace of God lead us on further into every truth that
tends to jnaintain and propagate faith and holiness.
Amen.
J^ote — Where these Discourses shall be used as a religious service in
private ^families on Lord's day evenings, each of them will afford a division
near the middle, kst, ths service be made too long and tiresome.
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CONTENTS.
AN Essay toward the proof of a separate state
of souls, Page 9
Section I. The introduction or proposal of the
question, with a distinction of the persons
who oppose it, ib.
Section II. Probable arguments for the separate
state, 16
Section III. Some firmer or more evident proofs
of a separate state, 25
Section lY. Objections answered, 44
Section V. More objections answered, . . , 61
Discourses on the world to come, 70
Discourse I. The end of time, lb.
Discourse II. The watchful christian dying in
peace, 95
Discourse III. Surprise in death, 13S
Discourse IV. Christ admired and glorified in
his saints, . . . * 148
Discourse V. The wrath of the Lamb, . . . 177
Discourse VI. The vain refuge of sinners, . , 193
Discourse VII. No night in heaven, .... 310
Discourse VIII. A soul prepared for heaven, . 331
Discourse IX. No pain among the blessed, . . 363
Discourse X. The first fruits of the spirit ; or,
the foretaste of heaven, 306
Discourse XI. Safety in the grave, and joy at
the resurrection, 334
liiscourse XII. The nature of the punishments
in hell, 36S
Discourse XIII. The eternal duration of the
punishments of hell, 405
AN ESSAY
TOWABS THE
PROOF OF A SEPARATE STATE OF SOULS
BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION.
SECTION I.
THE INTRODUCTION OR PROPOSAL OF THE QUESTION, WITH A
DISTINCTION OF THE PERSONS WHO OPPOSE IT,
IT is confessed that the doctrine of the resur-
rection of the dead at the last day, and the everlasting
Joys, and the eternal sorrows, that shall succeed it, as
they are described in the New Testament, are a very
awful sanction to t!ie gospel of Christ, and carry in
them such principles of hope and terror as should ef-
fectually discourage vice and irreligion, and become a
powerful attractive to the practice of faith and love, and
universal holiness.
But so corrupt and perverse are the inclinations of
men in this fallen and degenerate world : and their pas-
sions are so much impressed and moved by things that
are present or just at hand, that the joys of heaven, and
the sorrows of hell, when set far beyond death and the
grave, at some vast and unknown distance of time,
would have but too little influence on their hearts and
lives. And though these solemn and important events
are never so certain in themselves, yet being looked
upon as things a great way off, make too feeble an im-
pression on the conscience ; and tiieir distance is much
10 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
abused to give an indulgence to present sensualities.
For tliis we have the testimony of our blessed Saviour
himself, Matt. xxiv. 48. The evil servant says, my Lord
delays his coming ; then he begins to smite his fellow-
servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken. And
Solomon teaches us the same truth, Eccles. viii. 11. Be-
cause sentence against an evil work is nof executed
speedily, therefore the heart of the soris of men is fully
set in them to do evil. And even the good servants in
this imperfect state, the sons of virtue and piety, may
be too much allured to indulge sinful negligence, and
yield to temptations too easily when the terrors of
another world are set so far oif, and their hope of hap-
piness is delayed so long. It is granted, indeed, that
this sort of reasoning is very unjust ; but so foolish are
our natures, that we are too ready to take up with it,
and to grow more remiss in the cause of religion.
Whereas, if it can be made to appear from the word
of Grod, that, at the moment of deatli, the soul enters
into an unchangeable state, according to its cliaracter
and conduct here on eartli, and that the recompences
of vice and virtue, are, in some measure, to begin im-
mediately upon the end of our state of trial ; and if,
besides all this, there be a glorious and a dreadful res-
urrection to be expected, with eternal pain or eternal
pleasure both for soul and body ; and that in a more
intense degree, when the theatre of tliis world is shut
up, and Jesus Christ appears to pronounce his public
judgment on tlie world, then all tliose little subterfuges
are precluded, which mankind would form to themselves
from the unknown distance of the day of recom pence.
Virtue will liave a nearer and stronger guard placed
about it, and piety will be attended with superior mo-
tives, if its initial rewards are near at hand, and shall
commence as soon as this life expires ; and the vicious
and profane will be more effectually affrighted, if the.
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 11
hour of death must immediately consign tliem to a state
of perpetual sorrows and bitter anguish of conscience,
without hope, and with a fearful expectation of yet
§;reater sorrows and anguish.
I know what the opposers of the separate state reply
here;, viz. That the whole time from death to the res-
urrection, is but as the sleep of a night ; and the dead
shall awake out of their graves, utterly ignorant and
insensible of the long distance of time that hath past
since their death. One year, or one thousand years
will be the same thing to them ; and, therefore, they
should be as careful to prepare for the day of judgment,
and tlie rewards that attend it, as tliey are for their en-
trance into the separate state at death, if there were any
such state to receive them.
I grant, men should be so in reason and justice :
but such is the weakness and folly of our natures, that
men will not be so much influenced nor alarmed by
distant prospects, nor so solicitous to prepare for an
event which they suppose to be so very far off, as they
would for the same event, if it commences as soon as
ever this mortal life expires. The vicious man will
indulge his sensualities, and lie down to sleep in death
with this comfort, I shall take my rest here for a hun-
dred or a thousand years, and jperhaps in all that space,
my offences may he forgotten, or something may hap-
pen that I may escape ; or, Let the worst come that can
come, I shall have a long sweet nap before my sorrows
begin. Thus the force of divine terrors are greatly
enervated by this delay of punishment.
I will not undertake to determine, when the soul is
dismissed from the body, whether there be any explicit
divine sentence passed concerning its eternal state of
happiness or misery, according to its works in this life ;
or wiiether the pain or pleasure that belongs to the sep-
arate state, be not chiefly such as arises by natural con-
IS ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
sequence from a life of sin or a life of holiness, and as
being under the power of an approving or a condemn-
ing conscience : but, it seems to me more probable,
that since the spirit returns to God that gave it ; to
God the Judge of all, with whom the spirits of the just
made perfect dwell ; and, since the spirit of a christian,
when absent from the body, is presew with the Lord,
i. e. Christ. I am more inclined to think that there is
some sort of judicial determination of this important
point, either by God himself, or by Jesus Christ, into
whose hands he has committed all judgment. Heb. ix.
S7« It is appointed unto men once to die., hut after this
the judgment. Whether iramedijite or more distant, is
not here expressly declared, though the immediate con-
nexion of the words hardly gives room for seventeen
hundred years to intervene. But, if the solemn formal-
ities of a judgment be delayed, yet the conscience of a
separate spirit, reflecting on a holy or a sinful life, is
sufficient to begin a heaven or a hell immediately after
death.
Amongst those who delay the season of recompence
till the resurrection, there are some who suppose the
soul to exist still as a distinct being from the body, but
to pass the whole interval of time in a state of stupor or
sleep, being altogether unconscious and unactive.
Others again imagine, that the soul itself has not a suf-
ficient distinction from the body to give it any proper
existence when the body dies ; but that its existence
shall be renewed at the resurrection of the body, and
then be made the subject of joy or pain, according to its
behavior in this mortal state.
I think there might be an effectual argument against
each of these opinions raised from the principles of
philosophy. I shall just give a hint of them, and then
proceed to search what scripture has revealed in this
matter, which is of much greater importance to us, and
OF A SEPARATE STATE. iS
will have a more powerful influence on the minds of
christians.
I. Some imagine the soul of man to be his blond or
his breathy or a sort of vital fiame, or refined air or
vapor, or the composition and motion of the fluids and
solids in the animal body. This they suppose to be
the spring or principle of his intellectual life, and of ail
his thoughts and consciousness, as well as of his animal
life. And though this soul of man dies together with
the body, and has no manner of separate existence or
consciousness, yet when his body is raised from the
grave they suppose this principle of consciousness is re-
newed again, and intellectual life is given him at the
resurrection as well as a new corporeal life.
But it should be considered, that this conscious or
thinking principle having lost its existence for a season,
it will be quite a new thing, or another creature at the
resurrection ; and the man will be properly another
person, another self, another I or he : and such a
new conscious principle or person cannot properly be
rewarded or punished for personal virtues or vices of
which itself cannot be conscious by any power of mem-
ory or reflection, and which were transacted in this mor-
tal state by another distinct principle of consciousness.
For if the conscious principle itself, or the thinking
being has ceased to exist, it is impossible that it should
retain any memory of former actionsj since itself began
to be but in the moment of the resurrection. The doc-
trine of rewarding or punishing the same soul or intel-
ligent nature which did good or evil in this life, neces-
sarily requires that the same soul or intelligent nature
should have a continued and uninterrupted existence,
that so the same conscious being which did good or
evil may be rewarded or punished.
II. Those who suppose the soul of man to have a
real distinct existence when the body dies, but only to
14 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
fall into a state of slumber witliout consicousiiess or ac-
tivity, must, I think, suppose this soul to be material^
i. e. an extended and solid substance.
If they suppose it to be inextended, or to have no
parts or quantity, I confess I have no manner of idea of
the existence or possibility of such an inextended being
without consciousness or active power, nor do they pre-
tend to have any such idea as I ever heard, and there-
fore they generally grant it to be extended.
But if tliey imagine the soul to be extended, it must
either have something more of solidity or density than
mere empty space, or it must be quite as unsolid and
thin as space itself. Let us consider both these.
If it be as thin and subtle as mere empty space, yet
while it is active and conscious, I own it must have a
proper existence ; but if it ouce begin to sleep and drop
all consciousness and activity, I liave no other idea of it,
but the same which I have of empty space ; and that I
conceive to be mere nothing, though it impose upon us
with the appearance of some sort of properties.
If they allow the soul to have any the least degree
of density above what belongs to empty space, this is
solidity in the philosophic sense of the word, and then
it is solid extension, which I call matter: and a material
being may indeed be laid asleep, i. e. it may cease to
have any motion in its parts ; but motion is not con-
sciousness ; and how either solid or unsolid extension,
either space or matter, can have any consciousness or
thought belonging to any part of it, or spread through
the whole of it, I know not ; or what any sort of exten-
sion can do toward thought or consciousness, I confess
I understand not ; nor can I frame any more an idea
of it, than 1 can of a blue motion or a sweet smelling
sound, or of fire or air or water reasoning or rejoicing :
and I do not affect to speak of things or words, when I
can form no correspondent ideas of what is spoken.
OP A SEPARATE STATE. 15
So far as I can judge, the soul of man in its own
nature, is nothing else hut a conscious and active princi-
ple, subsisting by itself, made after the image of God,
who is all conscious activity ; and it is still the same
being, whether it be united to an animal body, or sepa-
rated from it. If the body die, the soul still exists an
active and conscious power or principle, or being ; and if
it ceases to be conscious and active, I think it ceases to
be ; for I have no conception of what remains.
Now, if the conscious principle continue conscious
after death, it will not be in a mere conscious indolence :
the good man and the wicked will not have tlie same
indolent existence. Virtue or vice, in the very temper
of this being when absent from matter or body, will
become a pleasure or a pain to the conscience of a sep-
arate spirit.
I am well aware that this is a subject wiiich has em-
ployed the thoughts of many philosophers, and I do but
just intimate my own sentiments without presuming to
judge for others. But the defence or refutation of argu-
ments on this subject would draw me into a field of
pliilosophical discourse, which is very foreign to my
present purpose : and whether tliis reasoning stand or
fall, it will have but very little influence on tliis contro-
versy with the generality of christians, because it is a
thuig rather to be determined by the revelation of the
word of God. I therefere drop this argument at once,
and apply myself immediately to consider tlie proofs
that may be drawn from scripture for the soul's ex-
istence in a separate state after death, and before the
resurrection.
16 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
SECTION 11.
PROBABLE ARGUMENTS FOR THE SEPARATE STATE.
THERE are several places of scripture in the
Old Testament, as well as in the New, which may be
most naturally and properly construed to signify the
existence of the soul in a separate state after the body
is dead ; but since they do not carry with them such
plain evidence or forcible proof, and may possibly be
interpreted to another sense, I shall not long insist upon
them : liowever it may not be amiss just to mention a
few of them, and pass away.
Psalm Ixxiii. 24, 26. Thou slialt guide me with thy
counaelf and afterward receive me to glory : my flesh and
my heatt faileth ; but God i^ the strength of my heart
and my portion for ever. In tliese verses receiving to
glory seems immediately to follow a guidance through
this world ; and when the flesh and heart of the Psalmist
should/^?/ him in deatli, God continued to be \\\^ portion
for ever, God would receive him to himself as such a
portion, and thereby he gave strength or courage to his
heart even in a dying hour. It would be a very odd
and unnatural exposition of this text to interpret it only
of the resurrection : thus, Thou shalt guide me by thy
counsel through this life, and after the long interval of
some thousand years thou wilt receive me to glory.
Eccles. xii. 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth
as it was, and the spirit to God that gave it. It is con-
fessed the word spirit in the Hebrew is the same with
breath, and is represented in some places of scripture
as the spring of animal life to the body : yet it is evident
in many other places, the word spirit signifies the con-
scious principle in man, or the intelligent being, which
knows and reasons, perceives and acts. The Scripture
speaks of being grieved in spirit, Isa. liv. 6. Of re-
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 17
joicin^s; in spirit, Luke x. SI. The spirit of a man
Icnoiveth the things of a man, 1. Cor. ii. 11. There is
a spirit in man, i. e. a principle of understanding, Job
xxxii. 8. And this spirit both of the wicked and the
righteous at death returns to God, Eccl. xii. 7- to God
who (as I hinted before) is the Judge of all in the world
of spirits, probably to be further determined and dis-
posed of, as to its state of reward or punishment.
Isa Ivii. ;3. The righteous is taken away from the
evil to come : he shall enter into peace : they shall rest in
their beds, each one icalking in his uprightness. The
soul of every one that walketh uprightly shall at death
enter into a state of peace while their body rests in the
bed of dust.
Luke ix. 30^ 31. And behold there talked with him,
i. e. with Jesus, two men, which ivere Moses and Elias,
who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which
he should accomplish at Jerusalem. I grant it possible
that these might be but mere visions whicli appeared to
our blessed Saviour and his apostles : but it is a much
more natural and obvious interpretation to suppose that
the spirits of these two great men, whereof one was the
institutor, and the other the reformer of the Jewish
church, did really appear to Christ, who was the re-
former of the world, and the institutor of the christian
church, and converse with him about the important event
of his death and his return to heaven. Perhaps the
spirit of Elijah had his heavenly body with him there
since he never died, but was carried alive to heaven ;
but Moses gave up his soul at the call of God when no
man was near him, and his body was buried by God.
himself. See S Kings ii. 11. and Deut. xxxiv. 1, 5, 6.
and his spirit was probably made visible only by an
assumed vehicle for that purpose.
JoIhi v. 34. Whoso heareth mi) word and believeth
dn him that sent me, hath everlasting life; is passed from
18 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
death to life. Joliii vi. 47, 50, 51. This is the bread
which Cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat
thereof and not die. If any man eat of this bread, he
shall live for ever. John xi. 26. Whoso liveth and be-
lieveth in me, shall never die, to which may be added the
words of Christ to the woman of Samaria, John iv. 14.
The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water, springing up into everlasting life. 1 John v. 12.
He that hath the So7i hath life, &^c. The argument I
draw from these scriptures is this : it is hardly to be
supposed that our saviour in this gospel, and John in
his first epistle imitating him, should speak such strong
language concerning eternal life, actually given to and
possessed by the believers of that day, if there must be
an interruption of it by total death or sleep both of soul
and body for almost two thousand years, i. e. till the
resurrection.
Acts vii. 59. *S.nd they stoned Stephen calling upon
God, saying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit. Those
who deny a separate state, suppose that Stephen here
commits his spirit, or principle of human life, into the
hands or care of Christ (because the life of a saint is
said to be hid with Christ in God, Colos. iii. 3, 4.) that
he might restore it at the resurrection, and raise him
to life again. But I think this is an unnatural force put
upon these words, contrary to their most obvious mean-
ing, if we consider the context : for Stephen here had a
vision of tiie Son of Man or Christ Jesus, standing on
the right hand of God, and the glory of God near him ;
see ver. 55, 5Q. Whereupon Stephen being conscious
of the existence of Clirist in that glorious state, desired
that he would receive his spirit, and take it to dwell
with him in liis Father's house ; not to lie and sleep in
heaven, for there is no night there, but to behold the
glory of Christ according to the many promises that
Christ had made to his disciples, that he would go and
OF A SEPARATE STATE, 19
prepare a place for them in his Father^ s house, and that
they sliould be until him there to behold his glory, John
viv. and xvii, which I shall have occasion to speak of
afterward.
Rom. viii. 10, 11. And if Christ be in you, the body
is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of
righteousness, i. e. If Christ dwell in you by the sanc-
tifying influences of his Spirit, it is true indeed, your
body is mortal and must die, because it is doomed to
death from the fall of Adam on the account of sin, and
because sinful principles still dwell in this flesldy
body ; but your soul or spirit is life, or your spirit lives
when the body is dead, and enjoys a life of happiness,
because of the righteousness imputed to you, i. e. your
justification unto life, Rom. v. 17? 18? Si- I know
there are several other ways of construing the words of
this verse by metaphors ; but the plain and most natural
antitliesis which appears liere between the death of the
body of a saint because of sin or guilt, and the continu-
ance of the spirit or soul in a life of peace because of
justification or righteousness, and that even when the
body is dead, gives a pretty clear proof that this is the
sense of the apostle. This is also further confirmed by
the next verse, which promises the resurrection of the
dead body in due time. If the Spirit of him that raised
up Christ from the dead, dwell in you, he that raised up
Christ from the dead, i. e. God tlie Fatlier, shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth
in you. The spirit or soul of the saint lives without
dying, because of its pardon of sin and justification
and sanctification, in tlie 10th verse ; and the body
(not the spirit or soul) shall be quickened or raised to
life again, by the blessed Spirit of God which dwells
in the saints, ver. 11.
2 Cor. V. 1, 2. ^' For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle w ere dissolved, we have a build-
2& ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
ing of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in tlic
heavens. For in this we groan earnestly, desiring to
be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven."
Ver. 4. *^ We in this tabernacle groan being burdened,
not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon,
that mortality might be swallowed up of life. It is evi-
dent that this house fmrn heaven, this building of God,
is something which is like the clothing of a soul divested
of this earthly tabernacle, ver. 1, 2 ; or it is the clothing
of the whole person, body and soul, which would abro-
gate the state of mortality and sitmlloiv it iip in life, ver.
4. For though in ver. 4, the Apostle supposes that the
soul doth not desire the death of the body, or that itself
should be unclothed, and therefore he would rather
choose to have this state of blessed immortality superin-
duced on his body and soul at once without dying, yet
in the first verse he plainly means such a house in or
from heaven, or such a clothing which may come upon
the soul immediately as soon as the earthly house or
tabernacle of his body is dissolved. And how dubious
soever this may appear to those who read the chapter
only thus far, yet the 8th verse, which supposes good
men to be present with Christ when absent from the
body, determines the sense of it as I have explained it ;
of which hereafter.
Perhaps it is hard to determine, whether this super-
induced clothing be like the Sliechinah or visible glory
in which Christ, Moses, and Elias, appeared at the
transfiguration, and which some suppose to have be-
longed to Adam in innocency ; or whether it signify
only a state of happy immortality, superinduced or
brought in upon the departing soul at death, or upon the
soul and body united as in this life, and with which
those saints shall be clothed, who a.re found alive at the
coming of Christ, according to 1 Cor. xv. 52, 53, 54.
Let this matter, 1 say, be determined either way j
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 2i
yet the great point seems to be evident, even beyond
probability, that there is a conscious being spoken of,
which is very distinct from its tabernacle, or hausp, or
clothings and w^hich exists still, w^hatever its clothing
or its dwelling be, or whether it be put off or pat on ;
and that, when the earthly house or vesse) is dissolved
or put off, the heavenly house or clothing is ready at
hand to be put on immediately, to render the soul of the
christian fit to be present with the Lord.
2 Cor. xii. 2, 3. " I knew a man in Christ above
fourteen years ago, whether in the body, or out of the
body, I cannot tell, God knoweth ; how that he was
caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words.''
I grant this ecstacy of the apostle does not actually
shew the existence of a separate state after death till the
resurrection ; yet, it plainly manifests St. Paul's belief,
that there might be such a state ; and tliat the soul
might be separated from the body, and might exist, and
think, and know, and act, in paradise, in a state of sep-
aration, and hear, and perhaps converse in the un-
speakable language of that world, while it was absent
from the body.
And, as I acknowledge T am one of those persons
who do not believe that the intellectual spirit or mind
of man is the proper principle of animal life to the body,
but that it is another distinct conscious being, that gen-
erally uses the body as an habitation, engine, or instru-
ment, while its animal life remains ; so I am of opinion,
it is a possible thing for the intellectual spirit, in a
miraculous manner, by the special order of God, to act
in a state of separation without the death of the animal
body, since the life of the body depends upon breath
and air, and the regular temper and motion of tlie solids
and fluids of which it is composed.* And St. Paul
* It would be thoug'ht, perhaps, a little foreign to my present purpose,
if 1 should stay here, to prove that it h not the conscious principle in man,
22 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
seems here to be of the same mind, by his doubting
whether his spirit was in the body or out of the body,
whilst it was wrapt into the third heaven and enjoyed
this vision, his body being yet alive.
Phil. i. 2i. For me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain. The apostle, whilst he was here upon earth,
spent his life in the service of Christ, and enjoyed
many glorious communications from him. For him to live
was Christ. And on this account, he was contented to
continue here in life longer : yet he is well satisfied
that death would be an advantage or gain to him. Now
we can hardly suppose what gain it would be for St.
Paul to die, if his soul immediately went to sleep, and
became inactive and unconscious, while his body lay
in the grave, and neither soul nor body could do any
service for Christ, or receive any communications from
him till the great rising day. This text seems to carry
the argument above a mere probability.
that gives or maintains the animal life of his body. It is granted, that, ac-
cording to the course of nature, and tlie general appointment of God therein,
this conscious principle or spirit continues its communications with the body,
while the body has animal life, or is capable of its natural motions, and able
to obey the volitions of the spirit ; and on this account, the union of the ra-
tional spirit to the body, and the animal life of the body, are often represented
as one and the same thing.
But, if we enter into a philosophical consideration of things, we should
remember that animals of every kind in earth, air, and sea, and even the
minutest insects which swarm in millions, and worlds of them, which are
invisible to the naked eye, have all an animal life, but no such conscious or
thinking principle as is in man : and why may not the body of man have
tha same sort of animal life quite distinct from the conscious spirit ?
Besides, if this conscious principle give life to the body, medicines and
physicians, whose power reaches only to rectify the disordered solids or fluids
of the body, would not be so necessary to preserve life, as an orator to per-
suade the spirit to, continue in the body, and preserve its life. And accord-
ingly, we read of foreign ignorant nations, where the kindred persuade the
dying person to live and tarry with them, and not to forsake them ; and,when
the person is dead, they mourn and reprove him, " Wliy were you so unkind
to leave and forsake us ;" and indeed this conduct of those poor savages is a
very natural inference from their supposition of the intelligent spirit giving
animal life to the body.
OP A SEPARATE STATE. g3
1 Thess. iv. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died,
and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
ivill God bring ivith him. The most natural and ev-
ident sense of these words, is this, tliat when the man
Jesus Christ (in whom dwells the fulness of the God-
head) shall descend from heaven, in order to raise the
dead bodies of those that died, or went to sleep in the
faith of Christ, God dwelling in him, will bring with
him the souls of his saints who were in paradise, down
to earth to be reunited to their bodies when Jesus raises
them from the dead, of which the apostle speaks 4n the
6th verse : this, I say, is the most natural and obvious
sense ; other paraplirases of the words seem strained
and unnatural.
1 Thess. V. 10. Jesus Christ, icho died for us, that
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together tvith
him. Sleep is the death of good men, in the language
of the apostle, in chap. iv. 13, 14, 15 ; and sleep in this
verse, can neither signify natural sleep, as verse 7 ; nor
spiritual sloth, as verse 6 ; therefore it must signify
death here. Now, they who sleep in Christ, in this
sense, do still live together ivith him in their souls, and
shall live with him in their bodies also, when raised
from the dead. This exposition arises near to a cer-
tainty of evidence.
1 Pet. iii. 18, 19, 20. Christ was put to death in the
flesh, but quickened by the Spirit ; by which also he
went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which
sometime were disobedient, ichen once the long-suffering
of God waited in the days of J^oah. I confess this is a
text that has much puzzled interpreters, in what sense
Christ may be said to go and preach to those ancient
rebels who were destroyed by the flood ; Vv'hether he
did it by his Spirit working in Noah the preacher of
righteousness in those days ; or whether, in the three
days in which the body of Christ lay dead, Jiis soul
34 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
visited the spirits of those rebels in their separate state
of imprisonment, on which some ground the notion of
his descent into hell. But, let this be determined as it
will, the most clear and easy sense of the apostle, when
he speaks of the spirits in prison^ is, that the souls of
those rebels, after their bodies were destroyed by the
flood, were reserved in prison for some special and fu^
ture design : and this is very parallel to the present
circumstances of fallen angels in Jude, verse 6. " The
angels that kept not their first estate, he liath reserved
in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment
of the great day.'' And why may not the spirits of
men be as well kept in such a prison as angelic spirits ?
Jude, verse 7. '^ Sodom and Gomorrha are set forth
for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
It is evident, that the material fire wliich destroyed
So«lom and Gomorrha, was not eternal ; for a great lake
of water quickly overflowed, aijd now covers all that
plain where the fire was first kindled, Avhich burnt
down those cities. It is manifest also, that the day of
resurrection and future punishment being not yet come,
they do not at this time, sntfer the vengeance of eternal
fire in their bodies. Nor can this verse, I think, be
well explained to make Sodom and .Gomorrha an ex-
ample to deter present sinners from uncleanness, but by
allowing that the spirits of those lewd persons are now
suffering a degree of vengeance or punishment from the
justice of God, which is compared to that^re whereby
their cities and their bodies were burnt ; and which
vengeance, at the last great day, shall continue their
punishment, and pronounce it eternal, or kindle materi-
al fire which shall never be quenched.
The last text I sliall mention, is Rev. vi. 9. 1 saw
under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the
word of God, and for the testimony which they held. I
confess this is a book of visions, and this place, amongst
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 25
others, might be explained as a mere vision of the
apostle, if there were no other text which confirmed the
doctrine of a separate state : But since I think there
are some solid proofs of it in other parts of the New
Testament, I know not why this may not be explained,
at least something nearer to the literal sense of it than
those will alloAv, who suppose the soul to sleep from
death to the resurrection. Why may not the spirits of
the martyrs, which are now with God, pray him to
hftsten the accomplishment of his promises made to his
church, and the day of vengeance upon his irreconcila-
ble enemies.
SECTION in.
SOME FIRMER OR MORE EVIDENT PROOFS OF A SEP AR ATI:
STATE.
I COME now to consider those texts which do
more expressly and certainly discover the separate
state, and which, I think, cannot, with any tolerable
appearance of reason, Ije turned aside from their plain
and obvious intention, to reveal and declare that there is
a separate state of souls. And such, in my opinion,
are these that follow.
I. Text, Matt. x. 28. Fear not them which Mil the
body, hut are not able to kill the soul ; hut rather fear him
who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Every
common reader, as well as every man of learning, who
reads this text with a sincere mind and without preju-
dice, I think, will acknowledge at least, that the most
obvious and easy sense of the words, implies, that there
is a soul in man which men cannot kill, even though
they kill the body.
It is to very little purpose for writers to sav, that the
4
2Q ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
Greek word •^'^X.^ wliicli we translate soul here, dotli in
other places of scripture, and even in the 39th verse of
this very chapter, signify //fe, and consequently here it
may also signify the animal life or the person of the
man ; for it is manifest, that in this place it must signify
some immortal principle in man that cannot die ; whereas
when the body is killed, the animal life dies too, and
does not exist till the body is raised again : but the soul
is a principle in this place which men cannot kill even
though they destroy the life of the body : and whatso-
ever other senses the word ')livy^v] may obtain in other
texts that cannot preclude sucli a sense of it in this text,
as is most usual in itself, and which the context makes
necessary in this place.
Nor will it avail the supporters of the mortality of the
soul to say that this scripture means only that men can-
not kill the soul for ever^ so that it shall forever perish
and have no future life hereafter by a resurrection : for
in this sense men cannot Mil the body, so that it shall
never revive or rise again : but here is a plain distinction
in the text, that the body may be killed, but the soul
cannot.
And I think this scripturfe proves also, that though the
])ody may be laid to sleep in the grave, yet the soul can-
not be laid to sleep ; for the substance of the body still
exists, and is not utterly destroyed by killing it, but
only laid to sleep for a time, as the scripture often de-
scribes death : but tlie soul cannot be thus laid to sleep
for a time, with its substance still existing, for that would
be to have no pre-eminence above the body, which is
contrary to this assertion of our Saviour.
II. Luke xvi. 22, &c. ^* The beggar died and was
carried by angels into Abraham's bosom : The rich man
also died and was buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes,
being in torments, and said, father Abraham, Iiave mercy
on me, &c. and send Lazarus, verse 27, to my father's
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 27
house that he may testify to my brethren, lest they come
also into this place of torment.'' I grant that this ac-
count of the rich man and the beggar is but a parable,
and yet it may prove the existence of the rich man's soul
in a place of torment before the resurrection of the body ;
I. Because the existence of souls in a separate state,
whilst other men dwell here on earth, is the xQvjf omnia'
tion of the whole parable, and runs tlu'ough tlie whole
of it. The poor man died and his soul was in paradise.
The rich man's dead body Avas buried and his soid was
in hell, while his five bretliren were here on earth in a
state of probation, and would hearken to Moses and the
prophets.
2. Because the very design of the parable is to shew,
that a ghost sent from the other world, whether lieaven
or hell, to wicked men who are liei-e in a state of trial,
will not be sufficient to convert them to holiness, if they
reject the means of grace and the ministers of tJie world.
The very design of our Saviour seems to l3e lost, if there
be no souls existing in a separate state. A ghost sent
from tlie other world could never be supposed to have
any iniiuence to convert sinners to this world, even in a
parable, if there were no such things as ghosts there.
The rich man's five brethren could have no motive to
hearken to a ghost pretending to come from heaven or
hell, if there were no such thing as ghosts or separate
souls either happy or miserable. Now surely, if para-
bles can prove any tiling at all, they must prove those
propositions which are both the foundation and the de-
sign of the whole parable.
3. I might add yet furtlier, tliat it is very strange that
our Saviour should so particularly speak of angels car-
rying the soul of a man, whose l)ody was just dead, into
heaven or paradise, which he calls Abraham's bosom ;
if there were no such state or place as a heaven for sep-
arate souls ; if Abraham's soul hnd no residence there.
28 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
no existence in that state ; if angels had never any
thing to do in such an office. What would the Jews
have said or thought of a prophet come from God, who
had taught his doctrines to the people in such parables
as had scarce any sort of foundation in tlie reality or
nature of things.
But you will say the Jews had such an opinion current
among them, though it was a very false one, and that
this was enough to support a parable : I answer, what
could Christ (who is tiiith itself) have said more or
plainer to confirm the Jews in this gross error of a sepa-
rate state of souls, than to form a parable which sup-
poses this doctrine in the very design and moral of it, as
well as in the foundation and matter of it.
HI. Luke XX. 37? 38. '" Now that the dead are rais-
ed even Moses shewed at tlie bush, when he calleth the
Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob ; for he is not a God of the dead but of the
living; for all live unto him." Some learned men sup-
pose that the controversy between Christ and the Sad-
ducees in this place was a])out the anastasis, which
implies the whole state of existence after death, including
both tlie separate state and the resurrection, Ijecause the
Sadducees denied both these at once, and believed that
death finished the whole existence of the man. They
denied angels and spirits, Acts xxiii. 8. i. e. separate
souls of men, and thought the rewards and punishments
mentioneji in scripture related only to this life. Upon
this account they suppose our Saviour's design is to prove
the existence of persons or spirits in the separate state
as much as the resurrection of the body.
And when he says, that tlie Lord or Jehovah is de-
scribed as the God of Abraham, &c. it supposes Abraliam
at the same time to have actually some life and existence
in some state or otlier, for God is not a God of the dead,
but of the living, for all that are dead and gone out of
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 39
this world still live unto God, i. e. they have present life
in the invisible world of spirits as God is an invisible
Spirit, as well as they expect a resurrection of their
body in due time.
Hbw could God in the days of Moses be called actu-
ally the God of Mraham, Isaac and Jacob, who were
long since dead, if there was no sense in wMch they
were now alive to God, since our Saviour declares God
is properly the God only of the living, and not of the
dead P This part of the argument holds good in what-
soever sense you construe the whole debate, and by
whatsoever medium or connection you prove the doctrine
of the resurrection of the body ; and this is obvious to
the honest and unlearned reader, as well as to the men
of learning.
IV. Luke xxiii. 42, 43. " And he (that is the peni-
tent thief upon the cross) said unto Jesus, Lord, remem-
ber me when thou comest into thy kingdom : and Jesus
said unto him, verily I say unto thee, to-day slialt thou
be with me in paradise." The thief upon the cross be-
lieved that Christ would enter into paradise which he
supposed to be Christ's kingdom, when he departed
from this world which was not his kingdom ; and this he
believed partly according to the common sentiment of
the. Jews concerning good men at their death, as well as
it is agreeable to our Saviour's own expressions to God,
John xvii. 11. Holy Father, I am no more in the world
and I am come unto thee : or as he had said to his dis-
ciples, Jolm xvi. 28. / leave the world and go to the
Father.
And according to these expressions, Luke xxiii. 46.
Christ dies with these words on his lips. Father, into thij
hands I commend my spirit. Our Saviour taking notice
of the repentance of the thief, acknowledging his own
guilt, thus, we are justly under this condemnation and
receive the due reward of our deeds ; and taking notice
30 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
also of his faith in the Messiah, as a king whose king-
dom was not of this worlds wlien he prayed, Lord, re-
member me when thou comest into thy kingdom : Christ,
I say, taking notice of both these, answers him with a
promise of much grace, Verily, I say unto thee, to-day
shalt thou be with me in jiaradise.
The use of the word paradise in scripture, and amongst
ancient writers Jewish and Christian, is to signify tlie
hajjpiness of holy souls in a separate state ; and our
Saviour entering into that state at his death, declared to
the dying penitent, that he should be with him there im-
mediately. It is certain, that by tlie word paradise, 8t.
Paul means the place of happy spirits, into ^^ hicli he
was transported, 2 Cor. xii. 4. And tliis sense is very
accommodate and proper to this expression of our Sa-
viour, and to the prayer of the penitent thief; and it is
as suitable to the design of Christ in his epistle to the
church of Ephesus, Rev. ii. 7 ? '^ the tree of life in the
midst of the paradise of God,-' which are the only three
places wliere the New Testament uses this word.
I know there have been great pains taken to shew
that the stops should be altered, and the comma should
be placed after the word to-day ,* thus, '^ I say unto thee
to-day, thou shalt be with me in paradise ; i. e. some
time or other hereafter. As though Christ meant no
more than this, viz : " thou askest me to remember thee
wJien I come into my kingdom : and I declare unto thee
truly this very day, that some long time hereafter, thou
shalt be witli me in happiness at thy resurrection, when
my kingdom shall be just at an end, and I shall give it
all up to the Father,''^ as in 1 Cor. xv. 24. Can any
one imagine this to be the meaning of our ])lessed Sa-
viour, in answer to this prayer of the dying penitent ? I
know also, there are other laborious criticisms to repre-
sent these words f to-day J in other ])laces of scripture,
as referring to some distant time, and not to mean that
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 31
vely day of twenty-four hours : but rather than enter in-
to a long and critical debate upon all these texts, I will
venture to trust the sense of it in this place, with any
sincere and unlearned reader.
But if we consult the learned Dr. Whitby, he will
tell us, that it was a familiar phrase of the Jews to say,
on a just man's dying, " to-day shall he sit in the bo-
som of Abraham. '^ And it was their opinion, that the
souls of the righteous who were very eminent in Jjiety^
were carried immediately into paradise. The Chaldee
paraphrase on Solomon's Song, iv. 12. takes some no-
tice of the souls of the just f who are carried into paradise
by the hands of angels. Grotius, in his notes on Luke
xxiii. 43. mentions the hearty and serious wish of the
Jews concerning their friends who are dead, in the lan-
guage of the Talmudicial writers : '' Let his soul be
gathered to the garden of Eden." And in their solemn
prayers when one dies, '^ Let him have his portion in
paradise, and also in the world to come ;" by which they
mean the state of the resurrection, and plainly distin-
guish it from this immediate entrance into Eden or para-
dise, at the hour of death. The Jews suppose Enoch to
be carried to paradise, even in his body ; and that the
souls of good men have no interruption of life ; but tliat
there was a reward for blameless souls, as the book of
Wisdom speaks, Chap. ii. 22. ^* For God created man
to be immortal, and to be an image of his own eternity,"
which seems to suppose blameless souls entering into this
reward without intermption of their life. And, if tliis
be the meaning otiiMradise among the Jews, doubtless
oar Saviour spake the words in such a known and com-
mon sense, in which the penitent thief would easily and
presently understand him, it being a promise of grace in
his dying hour, wherein he had no long time to study
hard for tlie sense of it, or consult the critics in order to
find the meaning.
3a ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
We come now to consider the writings of St. Paul ;
and it is certain, that the most natural and obvious sense
of his words, in many places of his epistles, refer to a
separate state of the souls after death : for, as he Avas a
Pharisee in his sentiments of religion, so he seems to be
something of a Platonist in philosophy, so far as Chris-
tianity admitted the same principles. Why then should
it not be reasonably supposed, wheresoever he speaks
of this subject, and speaks in their language too, that he
means the same thing whicli the Pharisees and the Pla-
tonists believed, that is, tlie immortality and life of the
soul in a separate state ? But I proceed to the particu-
lar texts.
V. 2 Cor. V. 6, 8. ^' Therefore Ave are always confi-
dent, (or of good courage,) knowing, that whilst we are
at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. Wc
are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from
the body, and to be present with the Lord.*' The
apostle, verse 4, seems to wish tliat he might l)e clothed
upon at once with immortality in soul and body, without
dying or being unclothed. But, since these things are oth-
erwise determined, then, in the next place, he would
rather choose absence from the body ^ that he might be
jjvesent ivith the Lord. These words seem to me so
plain, so express, and so unanswerable a proof of tlie
spirits of good men existing in a separate state, and
being jxreseiit unth the Lord, when they are absent from
the body at death, that I could never meet but with two
ways of evading it.
The first is w hat a gentleman many years ago, who
professed Christianity, acknoAvledged to me, viz. that he
believed St. Paul did mean, in this place, the same sense
in which I have explained him ; but he thought St. Paul
might be mistaken in his opinion, for he was not of the
apostle's mind in this point. I think I need not tarry to
i-efute this answer. But I may make this remark upon
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 33
it, viz. that the sense of St. Paul concerning the sepa-
rate state was so evident, in this place, that this man had
rather diflPer from tlie apostle than deny this to be his
meaning. All his prejudices against this doctrine could
not hinder him from acknowledging that the apostle be-
lieved and taught it.
The second way of evading it is, that this text, with
one or two others of like kind, do indeed speak of the
happiness of souls in a separate state, but it doth refer
only to the apostles themselves, who had this peculiar
favor and privelege granted them by Christ, to follow
him to paradise and enjoy his presence there, while the
souls of otlier christians were asleep, unconscious and
inactive till the resurrection.
Answer 1. It is granted indeed, that several verses of
this chapter, as well as in the former, have a peculiar
reference to the ministers of Christ, and perhaps to the
apostles who were his ambassadors ; but there are many
things in both these chapters that are perfectly applica-
ble to every christian ; and the verses just before and
just after tliis eighth verse, may belong to all good men
as well as to the apostles or ministers. He that hath
wrought us for the self-same thing, i. e. for the happi-
ness of the future state, is God, who hath also given unto
us the earnest of the spiint, at least as an enlightener and
a sanctifier, if not as the author of special gifts, for Rom«
viii. 9. If any man hath not the spirit of Christ, he is
none of his. And ver. 6. therefore we are ahcays confi-
dent, or of good courage, knoit'ing that whilst we are at
home in the body we are absent fom the Lord, for we
walk by faith not by sight. This is or should be the
character of every christian. And the ninth verse that
follows it belongs to all the saints : " Wherefore we la-
bor, that whether present or absent we may be accepted
of him ; for we must all appear before the judgment-seat
of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in
34 ESSAY TfOWAUD THE PROOF
his body according to tliat he hath done, whether it be
good or bad.'^ Now why sliouhl we suppose that St.
Paul excludes all other christians besides himself and
his brethren, the apostles, from the blessing of the eighth
verse, (viz.) that when they are absent from the bodyilmj
shall be present with the Lord, since the verses all round
it are applicable to all christians ?
Jliistcer 2. These chapters were written with a design
not only to vindicate and encourage the apostle himself
under the suiferings and reproaches which he met with,
but doubtless to give encouragement to the Corinthians,
and all christians under any sufferings or reproaches
they might meet with in the world ; that (as he expresses
it a little before) they might learn to walk by faith and
to look at the things which are unseen, which are eternal.
And indeed if this peculiar blessing of the happiness of
a separate state belongs only to the apostles, how much
are the comforts of the New Testament narroAved and
diminished, and the faith and hope of common christians
discouraged and enervated, and their motives to holiness
weakened, when they are told, that they have notliing
to do to lay hold upon such promised favors, such rela-
tions of grace, because they belong only to the apostles
and not to them.
And indeed how shall common christians ever know
what part of the epistles they may apply to themselves
for their direction and consolation, if they may not hope
in such words of grace, where the holy writers use the
word we, and do not plainly intimate that they belong to
preachers or apostles only ?
tinswer 3. When our Saviour prays for himself and
his apostles in tlie beginning of the xviith of St. John, he
comes in the :20th verse to extend the blessings he had
prayed for to all believers. Ver. 20. " Neither pray I
for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on
me through theij- Avord : that they all may be one, as
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 35
thou, FatheVj art in me, and I in thee, that they may l)e
one in us ; that tlie world may believe that thou hast sent
me. Ver. 24. " Father, I will that they also whom thou
liast given me may be with me where I am, that they
may behold my glory which thou hast given me." Here
it is evident that our Saviour prays that those that shall
believe on him through the word of the apostles may ])e
present with him in liis kingdom to behold his glory ;
and is not that a very considerable part of his glory,
wliich the Fatlier hath conferred upon him to be Lord
and King and Head of his church? but this peculiar
glory reaches no further than tlie resurrection and judg-
ment, and cannot l)e seen afterwards ; for in 1 Cor. xv.
24. " Then cometh the end, and Christ shall deliver up
tlie kingdom to God tlie Father : the Son himself also
&hall be subject unto the Father, that God may be all in
all," verse 28.
As for that final blaze of supreme glory wherein
Christ shall appear at the day of judgment just before
he resigns up his Idngdom, and wliich perhaps is once
called his kingdom., 2 Tim. iv. 1. " When he shall come
in the glory of his Father and of his holy angels as well
as his own," Mark viii. 38. The sight of it shall be
pr.blic and common to all the world, and not any pecu-
liar favor to the saints.
It seems therefore most probable that it is only or
chiefly in the separate state of souls departed, that the
saints have a special promise of beholding this media-
torial glory of Christ in his kingdom ; and this faA or
our Saviour entreats of his Father for others that shall
believe on him, as well as for his apostles.
I might here take occasion to inquire whether every
text which promises to other christians as well as to the
apostles, a dwelling with Christ in Jus kingdom., must
not have a more special reference to the glory of the
separate state ; upon this very account, because this king-
S5 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
dom of Christ ceases at the resurrection and judgment ;
and particularly that text in 2 Pet. i. 11. ^^ So an en-
trance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jegus
Christ :" which is often in scripture called everlasting
because it continues to the end of the world ; and the
abtmdant entrance into it very naturally refers to our
departure from this life.
Answer 4. I cannot find any text of scripture where
this blessing of being present with the Lord after death
in the separate state is limited only to the apostles : I
read not one word of such a peculiar favor promised
them by Christ ; and therefore, according to the current
course of several other places of scripture which have
been here produced, I am persuaded it belongs to all
true christians, unless the apostle in some plainer man-
ner had limited it to himself and his twelve bretliren,
and secluded or forbid our hopes of it.
After all, if it be allowed that the apostles may enjoy
the blessedness of a separate state before the resurrec-
tion, then there is such a thing as a sejmraie state of hap-
piness for souls. This precludes at once all the argu-
ments against it that arise from the nature of things, and
from any supposed impropriety in such a divine consti-
tution. And since it is granted that there are millions of
angels and several human spirits in this unbodied state,
enjoying happiness, I see no reason why the rest of the
unbodied spirits of saints departed should not be receiv-
ed to their society after death, unless there were some
particular scriptures that excluded them from it.
VI. Phil. i. 23, 24. " For I am in a strait betwixt
two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ ;
which is far better : nevertheless, to abide in the flesli is
mor^ needful for you." When the apostle speaks here
of his abiding in the flesh, and his departing from the
flesh, he declares the fli'st was more needful for the
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 3^
Pliilippians, to promote religion in their hearts and lives ;
but the second would be better for himself, for he should
be with Christ, when he was departed from the flesh.
I would only ask any reasonable man to determine
w hether St. Paul speaks of his beifig with Christ after
his departure from the flesh, he can suppose that the
apostle did not expect to see Christ till the resurrection,
w^iich he knew would be a considerable distance of
time, though perhaps it has proved many hundred years
longer than the apostle himself expected it ? No ; it is
evident he hoped to he present icith the Lord immedi-
ately as soon as he was absent from the body ; otherwise,
as I have hinted before, death to him would have been
but of little gain if he must have lain sleeping till the
dead shall rise, and have been cut oil* from his delightful
service for Christ in the gospel and all the blessed com-
munications of his grace. The objection which may
arise here also from supposing this to be a peculiar fa-
vor granted to the apostles is answered just before.
VII. Heb. xii. 2S. "Ye are come to the heavenly
Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the-
general assembly and church of the first-born which are
written (or registered) in heaven, to God the Judge of
all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to
Jesus the mediator of the new covenant,'' i. e. the gos-
pel or the christian state brings good men into a nearer
union and communion with the heavenly world, antl tlie
inhabitants thereof, than the Jew ish state could do : now
the inhabitants of this upper world, this heavenly Jeru-
salem, are here reckoned up, God as the prime Lord or
head ; Jesus the mediator as the King of his cluirch ; the
innumerable company of angels as ministers of his khig-
dom ; the general assembly of God's favorites or children
who are called the first-born ; perhaps this may refer in
general to all the saints of all ages past and to come
whose names are written in the book of life in heaven :
38 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOl'
and particularly to the separate spirits of just men who
are departed from tliis world, and are made perfect in
the heavenly state. The criticisms that are used to put
other senses upon these words seem to carry tliera away
so far from their more plain and obvious meaning, that I
can hardly think they are the meaning of the apostle ; for
it would be of very little use for a common christian to
read tiiese verses of divine consolation and grace, if he
could take no comfort from tliem till lie had learnt those
critical and distant expositions of such plain language.
It has been indeed objected against the plain sense of
this text, that the spirits of the just or good men are not
yet made perfect in heaven, because the same apostle,
Heb. xi. 39, 40, says, ^^ These all," i. e. the saints of
the Old Testament, "having obtained a good report
through faitli, received not the promises, God having
provided some better things for us, that they without us
should not be made perfect." Now these had been dead
for many generations, yet tliey received not the promises
nor were made perfect. Thus saith the objection.
But the evident meaning of this text is, that they
lived and died in the faith of many promises, some of
which were to be fulfilled after their days here on earth,
but were not fulfilled in their life time. They did not
enjoy the privileges and blessings of the gospel of the
Messiah, in that perfect manner in which we do, since
the Messiah is actually come, and has fulfilled these
promises ; and by his death, or offering himself as the
same apostle expresses it, for ever j)erfected them that
are sanctijied, Heb. x. 14. But all this does by no
means preclude their existence and happiness in a sep-
arate state as spirits made perfect, i. e. in a perfect free-
dom from all sin and sorrow ; thougli it is proba1)le tliis
very state of comparative perfection might have several
degrees of joy added to it at the ascension of Christ, and
will have manv more at the resurrection from the dead.
i
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 30
VIll. 2 Pet. i, 13. '• I think it meet, as long as I am
in this tabernacle, to stir you up, by putting you in re-
membrance ; knowhig that shortly I must put off this
my tabernacle." Here it is evident, that the person
who thinks it meet to stir np christians to their duty, has
a tabernacle belonging to him, and which he must sJiortly
put off. The soul, or thinJcing principle of the apostle
Peter, which is here supposed to be himself, is so plain-
ly distinguished from the tabernacle of the body in which
he dwelt for a season, and which he must put off shortly,
that most evidently implies an existence of this thinking
soul very distinct from tlie body, and which will exist
when the body is laid aside. Surely the conscious being
and its tabernacle or dwelling place, are two very dis-
tinct things, and the conscious being exists when he puts
off his present dwelling.
After all these arguments from scripture, may I be
permitted to mention one which is derived partly from
reason, and partly from the sacred records, which seems
to carry some weight with it.
The doctrine of rewards and punishments in a sepa-
rate state of souls, hath been one of the very chief prin-
ciples or motives whereby virtue and religion have been
maintained in this sinful world throughout all former
ages and nations, and under the several dispensations of
Grod among men, till the resurrection of the body was
fully revealed. Now, it is scarce to be supposed that
such a doctrine, which God, in the course of his prov-
idence, hath made use of as a chief principle and motive
of religion and virtue, tlirough all the world which had
any true virtue, and in all ages before Christianity,
should be a false doctrine. Let us prove the first prop-
osition by a view of the several ages of mankind, and
dispensations of religion.
The heathens, who have liad nothing else but the light
of nature to giude them, could have no notion at all ot
40 ESS4Y TOWARD THTri PROOF
the resurrection of the body ; and therefore, not only the
wisest and best of them, but perhaps the bulk of man-
kind among the Gentiles, at least in Europe and Asia,
if not in Africa and America also, who have been taught
by priests, and poets, and the public opinions of their
nation, and traditions of their ancestors, have generally
supposed such a separate state after this life, wherein
their souls should be rewarded or punished, except where
the fancy of transmigration prevailed ; and even these
very transmigrations into other bodies, viz. of dogs, or
horses, or men, were assigned as speedy rewards or pun-
ishments of their behavior in this life.
Now, though this doctrine of immediate recompences
could not be proved by them with certainty and clear-
ness, and had many follies mingled witli it, yet the prob-
able expectation of it, so far as it liath obtained among
men, hath a good degree of influence through the conduct
of common providence, to keep the world in some toler-
able order, and prevent universal irregularities and ex-
cesses of the highest degree ; it hath had some force on
the conscience to restrain the enormous wickedness of
men.
The patriarchs of the first ages, wliose history is re-
lated in scripture, had no notion of the resurrection of
the body expressly revealed to them, tliat we can find ;
and it must be the hope of such a state of recompence of
their souls after death, that influenced their practice of
piety, if they were not informed that tlieir bodies should
rise again.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had no plain and distinct
promise of the resurrection of the body ; yet it is said,
Heb. xi. 14. '* They received the promises," that is, of
some future happiness, '•^ and embraced them ; and con-
fessed they were strangers and pilgi'ims on the eartii ;
whereby they plainly declared, that tliey souglit some
other country, i. e. an heavenly ; and God hath prepared
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 40
a city for tliem." What city, what heavenly country can
tliis be, which they themselves sought after, but the city
or country of separate souls or paradise, where good men
ai*e rewarded, and God is their God, if they had no plain
promises or views of a resurrection of the body ? And
indeed they had need of a very plain and express prom-
ise of such a resurrection, to encourage their faith and
obedience, if they had no notion or belief of a separate
state, or a heavenly country^ whither their souls should
go at their death.
Job seems to have some bright glimpses of resurrec-
tion in chap, xixth ; but this was far above the level of
the dispensation wherein he lived, and a peculiar and
distinguishing favor granted to him under bis uncommon
and peculiar sufferings.
In the institution of the Jewish religion by Mases,
there is no express mention of a resurrection, and we
must suppose their hope of a future state was chiefly
such as they could gain from the light of nature, and
learn by traditions from their fathers, or from unwritten
instructions. For though our Saviour improves the
words of God to Moses in the bush,/*' I am the God of
Abraham," &c. so far as to prove a resurrection from
them ; yet we can hardly suppose the Israelites could
carry it any further, than merely to the happiness of
Abraham's soul, &c. in some separate state ; and thence
came the notion of departed souls of good men going to
the- bosom of Abraham.
I grant that David in his Psalms, Isaiah and Daniel
in their prophecies, have some hints of the resurrection
of the body ; but this doth not seem to have been the
common principle or support of virtue and goodness, or
a general article of belief among the Jews in the early
ages.
In the days of the later prophets, and after their re-
turn from Babylon^ I confess the Jews had some notions
6
4:2 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
of a resurrection ; but they also retained their bpinion
of the righteous souls being at rest with God in a sep-
arate state before the resurrection. See the book of
Wisdom, chap. iii. 1, 2, 3, 4, " The souls of the riglit-
eous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment
touch them. In the sight of the unwise, they seemed to
die ; and their departure is taken for misery, and their
going from us to be utter destruction ; but tliey are in
peace ; for though they be perished in the sight of men,
yet is their hope full of immortality ;" and iv. 7-
" Though the rigliteous be prevented with death, yet
they shall be in rest."
That this was the most common doctrine of the Jewsj,
except the Sadducees and their followers, in our Sa-
viour's time, and that it was the doctrine of the prim-
itive christians also, need not be proved here ; though
they also had the expectation of the resurrection of the
body.
Now, if this be the chief or only doctrine whicli men
could attain to under the dispensation of natural reason,
as the most powerful motive to virtue and piety ; if this
be the cliiefest doctrine of that kind that we know of,
whicli the patriarchs and primitive Jews enjoyed ; if
this also be a constant doctrine of later Jews, i. e. the
wisest and best of them ; and also of tlie primitive chris-
tians, which had so much influence on the good behav-
ior of all of them toward God and men ; and by which
God carried on his work of piety in their hearts and
lives ; and by which also he imprest the consciences of
evil men in some measure, and restrained them from
their utmost excesses of vice and wickedness, is it not
hard to be supposed that this doctrine is all mere fancy
and delusion, and hath nothing of truth in it ? And
indeed, if this doctrine had been taken away, the
heathens would be left without any possible tnie notion
of a future state of recompence ; and the patriarchs seem
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 43
to have liad no suflBcient principle or motive to virtue
and piety left them ; and the principles and motives of
goodness in the following ages among Jews and chris-
tians, liad been greatly diminished and enfeebled.
At the conclusion of this chapter, I cannot help taking
notice, though I shall but just mention it, that the
multitude of narratives which we have heard of in all
ages of the apparition of the spirits or ghosts of persons
departed from this life, can hardly be all delusion and
falsehood. Some of them have been affirmed to appear
upon such great and important occasions, as may be
equal to such an unusual event. And several of these
accounts have been attested by such witnesses of wis-
dom, and prudence, and sagacity, under no distempers
of imagination, that they may justly demand a belief.
And the eifects of these apparitions in the discovery of
murthers and things unknown, have been so consider-
able and useful, that a fair disputant should hardly
venture to run directly counter to such a cloud of wit-
nesses, without some good assurance on the contrary
side. He must be a shrev»^d philosopher indeed, who,
tipon any other hypothesis^ can give a tolerable account
of all the narratives in GlanvilPs Sadducismus Trium-
phatus, or Baxter's World of Spirits and Apparilions,
&c. Though I will grant some of these stories have
but insufficient proof, yet, if there be but one real appa-
rition of a departed spirit, then the point is gained, that
there is a separate state.
And indeed, the scripture itself seems to mention such
sort of ghosts or appearnces of souls departed. Matt. xiv.
26. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the
water, they thought it had been a spirit. And Luke
xxiv. 36. After his resurrection, they saw him at once
appearing in the midst of them ; a??<Z they supposed they
had seen a spirit. And our Savioar doth not contradict
their notion ; but argues with them upon the supposition
44 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
of the truth of it. " A spirit hath not flesh and bones as
ye see me to have. And Acts xxiii. 8, 9. The word
spirit seems to signify the apparition of a departed soul,
where it is said the Sadducees say, " There is no res-
urrection, neither angel nor spirit." And verse 9. " If
a spirit or an angel hath spoken to this man,"' &c. ,3.
spirit here is plainly distinct from an angel ; and what
can it mean but an apparition of a human soul which has
left the body ?
SECTION IV.
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
HAVINGr pointed out so many springs of argu-
ment to support this doctrine, from the word of God, as
well as from reason and tradition, I proceed now to an-
swer some particular objections which are raised against
it.
Object. I. The scripture is so far ft'om supposing that
the soul of man is immortal, or that there is any such
thing as the life of the soul continuing after the death
of tlie body, that it often speaks of tlie death of the soul,
if the words were translated exactly according to the
original. Numbers xxxi. 19. "Whosoever hath killed
any person,'' Heb. any soul, 1 Sam. xxii. 22. " I have
occasioned the death of every soul of thy father's house."
Judges xvi. 30. " And Samson said, let my soul die
with the Philistines." Ezekiel xviii. 20. " The soul
that sinueth it shall die." Psalm Ixxxix. 48. " What
man is he that liveth and shall not see death ? shall he
deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ?" 1 Kings
xix. 4. " Elijah requested for himself that he might
die ;" Heb. that his soul might die.
Ans. The word soul in EngUsH, nephesh in HebreW;,
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 45
jpsyche in Grreekj and amma in Latin, &c. signifies not
only the conscious and active principle in man, which
thinks and reasons, loves and hates, hopes and fears,
and which is the proper agent in virtue or vice ; but it
is used also to signify the principle of animal life and
motion in a living creature. And, though these two in
themselves are very distinct things, yet upon this ac-
count, the word soul is attributed to brutes as well as to
men ; for the Jews as well as some heathens, in their
mistaken philosophy, supposed the same soul of man,
which gives natural life to the body, to be also that
very intellectual principle, which thinks and reasons,
fears and loves ; and upon this account, they gave both
these principles, how distinct soever in themselves, one
common name, and called them the soul.
Now, the sold or the principle of animal life and
motion, being the chief or the most valuable thing in an
animal, it came to pass that the whole animal was called
2lsouI ; therefore, even birds and fishes are called living
souls, Gen. i. 20 ; and any animals whatsoever in scrip-
ture are called souls or living souls. And then, for the
same reason, i. e. because the soul of man is his chief
part, the whole person of man is called Ids soul, Gen.
ii. 7* " Man became a living soul," i. e. a living person.
So Exod. i. 5. " All the souls that came out of the loins
of Jacob were seventy souls," i. e. all the persons were
seventy.
And this is not only the language of the Jews, but
even of other nations. In our country, we use the word
souls to signify jpersons. So we say a poor soul, when
we see a person in misery ; we use the w(»rd a meagre
soul for a thin man ; we say, there were tieenty souls
lost in the ship, i. e. twenty persons, &c.
Now, the word soul among the Jews being so uni-
versally used to signify the person of man, they used
the same word to signify the person, when he was dead
46 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
as well as when he was alive. Numb. vi. 6. He shall
come at no dead body^ in the Hebr. no dead soul, i. e. uo
dead man or woman, or perhaps no dead animal.
Since the word soul is taken so often and so common-
ly to signify the person of a man or woman, no wonder
that there is so frequent mention of souls dying in the
scripture, when human persons die.
And if the soul signify a man or woman when they
are dead as well as when living, here is a fair account
why the scriptures may speak of the " souls going down
to the grave," or being delivered from the grave, 8^c.
Psal. Ixxxix. 48. ^^ Shall he deliver his soul from the
hand of the grave ?" This may either denote his prin-
ciple of animal life, or his person, i. e. himself.
Now tliis account of things is very consistent with the
scriptural doctrine of the distinction of the intelligent soul
of man from his body, and the intelligent souVs survival
of the body, nor do any of these scriptural expressions
concerning the soul forbid this supposition. For though
in some places, the word soul signifies the ])erson of the
man or his body, or tliat animal principle which may
die, yet in other places it signifies that intelligent or
thinking principle which cannot die, as we have before
proved where our Saviour tells us, we should not fear
them that kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Where-
soever the scripture speaks of a souls being killed, it
only means that the jperson who was mortal is slain, i. e.
the life of the body is destroyed, and the man considered
as a compound being made up of soul and body is in
some sense dissolved when one part of the composition
dies. But where the soul signifies the intellectual prin-
ciple in man, it is never said to die, unless when the
word death means a loss of liappiness, or living in
misery ; but this implies natural life still, for this soul
cannot naturally be desti'oyed by any power but that
which made it.
OF A Separate state. 47
If any person object that the apostle in Acts ii. 31.
saysjfAe soul of Christ ivas not left in hell, or the grave;
for so the word in the Hebrew may signify, Psalm xvi.
10. whence this is cited ; there is a sufficient answer to
be given to this two or three ways. It may be construed,
that the principle of the animal life of Christ was not
left to continue in death ; or that the person of the man
Jesus was not left in death or the grave, the body being
sometimes put for the person ; or it may be as well con-
strued, that the spirit of Clirist, or his intellectual soul
was not left in the state of the dead, or of separation
from the body, which the word sheol in the Hebrew, and
ctdviQ in the Greek signify.
Here it may be observed also, that the word which
signify spirit, riiach, fneuma, spiritus, in Hebrew,
Greek and Latin, and other languages, is used some-
times for air or breath, which is supposed to be the
principle of life to the animal body ; and sometimes it
signifies the intellectual soul, the conscious and active
principle in man ; and therefore whatsoever may be said
of the spirWs dying or being lost, is no proof that the
conscious principle in man dies, which is a very diffe-
rent thing from breath or air.
Perhaps it will be said here, does not Moses suppose
breath to be the soul or spirit in man, when he says,
Gen. ii. 7- God breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life, and man became a living soul.
I answer, it is evident that Moses makes a plain dif-
ference between God's formation of man and brutes, for
he makes no distinction between their soul and body in
their creation ; but he distinguishes the soul from the
body of man, in his creation, speaking according to the
common language and philosophy of that age as tliougli
the soul were in the breath. Nor was it proper to speak
in strict philosophical language to those ignorant peo-
ple ; nor were the modes of expression in the Bible so
48 ESSAY TOWARD THK PROOF
peculiarly formed to teach us philosophy as religion.
Eut of t'lis distinction between the soul of a brute, and
the soul of a man, there seems to he a plain intimation
given by Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes, chap. iii.
2i. ^^ Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward,
and the spirit of a beast that goeth downward to the
earth?" that the spirit of man, i. e. his conscious and
intellectual principle goeth upward, or survives at the
death of the body, but the spirit of the beast, i. e. the
spring of its animal life, goeth down to the earth, is min-
gled witli tlie common elements of this material world
and entirely lost.
But the wise man in this place perhaps expresses some
of his former atheistical doubts, saying, who knows
whether there is any difference betAveen them? yet it in-
timates thus much, that men who pretended to wisdom
in that age, supposed such a difference between the spirit
of man and the spirit of a brute.
Object. II. Is taken frojn Psal. vi. 5. "In death there
is no remembrance of thee ; in the grave who shall give
thee thanks? and Psal. cxlvi. 4. "'His breath goeth
foriii, he rcturneth to his earth : in that very day liis
thoughts perish.'' And Eccles. ix. 5. "The living know
tliat they shall die, but the dead know not any thing.''
From all which words some would infer there is no such
thing as a separate state of souls.
Answ. Both David and his son Solomon exclude all
such sort of thoughts and actions, both religious and
civil, from the state of death as are practised in this life,
all the pursuits of their present purposes, their present
way and manner of divine worship, and their manage-
ment or consciousness of human affairs : but they do
not exclude all manner of consciousness, knowledge,
thought or action, such as may be suited to the invisible
state of spirits. The design of the writers in those pla-
ces of scripture require uo more than this, and there-
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 40
fore die words cannot be construed to any further sense,
or to exclude the conscious and active powers of a sepa-
rate spirit from their proper exercise in that invisible
world, though they have done with all their actions in
the present visible state.
Object. III. Is taken from John xiv. 3. "If I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you to myself, that where I am there ye may be also j"
which seems to determine the point, that the followers
of Christ were not to be present with him until he came
again to this world to raise the dead, and to take his
disciples to dwell with him.
S.nsw. 1. It hath been already granted by some per-
sons who doubt of the separate state of all souls, that
the apostles had tliis special favor allowed them to be
received into the presence of Christ when they depart-
ed from this body. Now these words were spoken to
the apostles, and therefore they cannot preclude this
privilege which they expected, viz. that wlien they
were absent from the body, they should be present ivith,
the Lord, 2 Cor. v. 8.
Jinsw. 2. Christ came again to his disciples at his
own resurrection from the dead, and taught them the
things of the other world, and better prepared them for
the happiness of heaven and his own presence. He
came again also by the destruction of the Jewish state,
and called his own people thence before-hand, as au
emblem of their salvation, when the world should be de-
stroyed. He also came again at their death ; when he
that hath the keys of death and the invisible world let
them out of the prison of the body into the separate state,
that they might dwell with him. The coming of Christ
has many and various senses in the New Testament,
and need not be referred only to his coming at the day
of judgment.
»i.nsiv. 3. But suppose in this place the words of
7
50 KSSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
Christ be construed concerniDg his great and public
coming to raise the dead and judge the world. It is cer-
tain that iu that day, the disciples shall be received to
dwell with him in a much more complete and glorious
manner, when both soul and body shall be made the in-
habitants of heaven. But this does not preclude or for-
bid that the separate souls of his followers should be
favored with his presence in paradise before his public
coming to judge the world. Though the last and great-
est blessing be only mentioned here, it does not exclude
the former.
Object. IV. St. Paul, in Phil. iii. 10, 11. says, that
he desired ^^ to know Christ and the power of his resur-
rection, &c. if by any means he miglit attain to the res-
urrection of the dead." Now what need had the apostle
to be so solicitous about the resurrection, if he expected
to be \Yith Christ immediately upon liis death, since
being with Christ is the state of ultimate happiness ?
Answ. 1. Some learned men suppose that the apostle
here presses after some peculiar exaltations of piety in
this world, and after an interest in some first resurrec-
tion, or resurrection of the martyrs and most eminent
saints, which would be long before the general resur-
rection of all the dead, according to the visions of St.
John, Rev. xx. 4 — ^. But as I am not sufficiently ac-
quainted with the sense of that prophecy to determine
my opinion on this side, I proceed to other an-
swers.
Answ. 2. What if the words of St. Paul in this place
to the Philippians, should mean no more than this, as
ver. 13, l^. ^» I forgot tlie things that are behind,'' as
though I had gained so little already as not to be worth
my notice ; and I reach forth unto those things which
are before, i. e, furtlier degrees of holiness to be obtain-
ed, pressing towards the mark of perfection, if by any
means I might be made so conformable to the death of
OP A SEPARATE STATE. 51
Christ, as to be entirely dead to sin ; and if by any means
I might attain to the resurrection of the dead, i. e. to
such a perfection of holiness as is represented by the
resurrection of Christ, Rom. vi. or as that in which the
dead saints shall be raised ; for I know / have not al-
ready attained it, nor am already perfect.
Answ. 3. Suppose the soul of St. Paul to be present
with Clu'ist after death in heaven in the separate state ;
yet this is not the ultimate or highest happiness of the
saints, and therefore he aimed at something higher and
further, namely, the more complete happiness which he
should enjoy at the resurrection of the dead.
Object. V. Is borrowed from several verses of 1 Cor.
XV. where the apostle is imagined to argue thus, ^^If
there be no resurrection of the dead," ver. 18. ^^Then
they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished," ver.
19. Then we have hope only in this life, and nothing
else to support us. Then ver. 33. What advantage do
I get by all my suiferings for Christ, if the dead rise not ?
We had better comply with the appetites of the flesh, and
enjoy a merry life here. Let us eat and drink, for to-
morrow ive die ; whereby it is evident that the apostle
places the blessed expectation of those that are fallen
asleep in Christ, only and entirely upon their being
raised from the dead ; which he would not have done if
there had been such a separate state : he extends our
hope in Christ beyond this life, and raises his own ex-
pectations of advantage or reward for his sujfferings on
the account of the gospel, entirely and only upon the
resurrection of the dead, having no notion of any happi-
ness in a separate state of souls : for if he had any such
opinion or hope, this expectation of the happiness of the
soul in a separate state, might have been a sufficient
proof that those who died or slept in the faith of Christ,
are not perished ; and he had abundant reward for his
B2 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
sufferings in that world of separate souls without the
resurrection of tlie body.
tlnsw. 1. It must be granted that the scripture, in or-
der to support christians under present trials, chiefly
refers them to the day of the resurrection and final judg-
ment, as the great and chief season of retribution. The
reason of this will appear under my answer to a follow-
ing objection. Now the apostle may be supposed to ar-
gue here only on this foot, neglecting or overlooking the
separate state, as though this final retribution at, and
after the resurrection of the body, were comparatively
the whole ; because it is far the chief and most consider-
able part, being much the most sensible and conspicuous,
and of the longest duration. The chief part of any
thing is often taken for the whole. And if there were no
resuiTection of the dead, i. e. if there Avere no state of
retribution at all, then the Epicurean reasoning would
be good. Let us eat and drink for to-morrow we die.
And to confirm this exposition, we may take notice,
that in other places of scripture, where the resurrection
of the dead is mentioned, this anastasis includes the
whole state of existence after deatli, both the separate
and the resurrection state. This seems to be the sense of
it in that famous place, Luke xx. 35. where Christ
argues with the Sadducees, who denied the separate state
as well as the resurrection of the body. Now if you take
away this anastasis, this whole state of existence and
retribution, then they that suffer for Christ have no ad-
vantage or recompence ; and i\m Epicurean doctrine is
plainly preferable, at least in the common sense and
reasoning of men, and in such seasons of trial and per-
secution.
Nor is it unreasonable to suppose that there might be
some of these principles of Sadducism begun to he in-
stilled into some of the Corinthians, viz. that there were
no rewards and punishments at all in any fature state ;
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 53
for he tells them, ver. 34. that some of them had not the
knowledge of God, i. e. as a righteous rewarder of them
that diligently seek him .• I speak this, says he, to your
shame. And ver. 5, 8. he encourages them to be
stedfast and unmoveable, alicays abounding in the work
of the Lor d^ for as much as ye know that your labor is not
in vain in the Lord ; i. e. there is certainly a future state
of recompence for piety ; and the discovery of it at the
resurrection of the dead, is the most public and glorious
part of it ; and therefore he insists upon this alone.
Answ. 2. But we may give yet a more particular an-
swer to this objection : for if we take in the whole
scheme of the apostle's argument in this chapter, we
shall find there is no sufficient ground for this objection
against a separate state. He begins, ver. 12, 13, &c.
and argues tluis : If there be no resurrection of the dead,
then Christ is not risen ; for he rose as the first fruHsj
and his followers shall be the harvest, ver. !23. But if there
be no harvest, there were no first fruits : and '^^ if Christ
be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faitli
is vain ;" ver. 14. " Then we are found false witnesses
in matters that relate to God,'' ver. 15. mere imposters,
who preach a wicked falsehood, and lead you to hope
for a happiness wliich ye shall never obtain ; for if
Christy who died for our sins, ver. 3. be not raised for
our justification, as in Rom. iv. ult. then are ye yet in
your sins ; ye lie yet under the guilt of sin ; and if so*,
then also they which are fallen asleejj in ChiHst, or have
died in the faith of Christ, are perished, ver. 18. They
must either be condemned, or be utterly lost, both soul
and body, having no ground for hope of eternal life, or
any life or happiness at all hereafter. Then the hope of
christians ivould he in this life only ; and we are miser-
able creatures who suifer so much for Christ's sake, ver.
19. It would be better for us who have senses and ap-
petites, as well as other men, to indulge these senses and
54 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOl
appetites, and eat and driiik,for to-morrow we die, and
there is an end of us. There can be no future state of
happiness of any kind for us to expect, either in soul or
body, if we have deceived you in the doctrine of the re-
surrection of Christ, and all our gospel be false. We are
then such sort of imposters and wicked cheats as can
Lave no belief of a future state of rewards and punish-
ments, and we had better act like ourselves, and like
mere Epicureans, give ourselves up to all present plea-
sures, than expose ourselves to perpetual sufleriugs for
the sake of a man, who (if there be no resurrection) died
and never rose again, and therefore cannot make us any
recompence. Now this sort of arguing does not at all pre-
clude the separate state of happiness, but rather establish it.
I might add here a further answer to this objection,
viz. the apostle is representing the sufferings of the body
for Christ's sake, ver. 30, 31, 32. and therefore he
thinks it proper to encourage christians with the recom-
pence of the resurrection of the body, without taking any
particular notice of the happiness of the separate state of
the soul : and in this view of things his argument stands
good. If there be no resurrection of the body, there is
no recompence for sufferings in the body. Let us then
give the body its pleaures of sense. Let us eat and drink
while we live, for there is an utter end of us in death.
But (saith he ver. 33.) such evil traditions corrupt all
good manners ; and therefore they are not, they cannot
be true. There must be a resurrection of the body to en-
courage sufferings in the body for the sake of virtue and
religion.*
* There are sevetal pages of just and pertinent answers to this objection,
by my learned and ingenious friend, Mr Henry Grove, in his thoughts concern-
ing the proof of a future state from reason, which confirm the replies I have
here made. " Then they, saith he, who are fallen asleep in Christ (by whom
the martyrs seem to be more especially intended) are perished ; for any thing
that Christ can do for them, who will never reward them for their sufferings,
never restore that life which they lost for his^ sake." And particularly his
Qyposition on those words, we are most miserable of all men, is very agi-eeable
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 55
Object. VI. Doth not the NeAV Testament constantly
refer the rewards and punishments of good and bad
men to the time of the resurrection of the dead, or the
second coming of Christ ? Is it not with this prospect it
terrifies the sinner ? Is it not with this it comforts the
good man, and supports him under his present suffer-
ings ? It would be endless to cite all the particular texts
on this occasion. That one text, 1 Thess. iv. 14. speaks
the sense of many others, and is suflficient to be cited
here. The apostle persuades cliristians not to mourn
for the dead as those that sorrow without hope, and
gives this reason ; for those icho sleep in Jesus, God will
bring with him, when he comes to raise the dead, and
then they shall be for ever with the Lord; and he bids
them comfort one another with these words. Whereas
their comforts had been much nearer at hand, if he could
have told them of the separate state of happiness, which
the departed souls of their friends at present enjoyed ;
and if there had been any such state, he had the fairest
opportunity here to introduce it.
Jlnsw. This very text I have mentioned before as a
proof of the separate state ; and it is plain the apostle
seems to hint it, though he doth not insist upon it, when
he supposes the soul of the deceased to be with Christ
already ; for he saith, God will bring them with him^
1. e. from heaven when he comes to raise their bodies.
But to give a more general answer to the objection,
as drawn from the silence of scriptui'e, in many places,
about this doctrine of the separate state.
There are good reasons why the New Testament
more sparingly mentions tlie separate state of souls, and
to the place. *'T\it Greek eXetvore^ot s'lgnKies thtxt we a.re more to be pitied
than any men, as wanting the common understanding of men to sufier death
f(?f Christ's sake, who would never be able to recompence us for it, if he be
not risen from the dead. And it is (saith he a little afterward) for want of
observing the intermediate Jinks of the apostle's argument (which he there
represents,) that some have been at a loss for his meaning, while, others have
quite mistaken it" See page 134, &g.
06 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
(loth most frequently (but not constantly) refer both re-
wards aiKl punishments to the resurrection.
1. Because the heathens themselves (at least the
wisest and best of them) did believe some sort of future
state of happiness or misery, into which the souls of men
should be disposed when they departed from these bo-
dies, according to the vices or virtues they had practised
in this life : and they derived this doctrine from their
reasonings upon the foot of the light of nature. The
writings of Plato and his followers, and the sentiments
of Socrates, conveyed to us in Plato's writings, are full
of this opinion, viz. of the existence of the souls of good
men in a happy state, \vhen they depart from the body.
Cicero sometimes speaks of it as his opinion, his desire
and his hope ; nor were other heathen writers ignorant
of this doctrine. But the New Testament speaks less of
this point, because it is the evident design of Christ and.
liis apostles to lead their disciples to the more peculiar
doctrines of revelation, rather than to treat them with
sentiments derived from the light of nature. And this
doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, and the eter-
nal rewards and eternal punishments that attend it, are
more abundantly mentioned in the New Testament, be-
cause they stand so much more connected with the gos-
pel of Christ, and with his own resurrection from the
dead ; which is the chief evidence of its divine authority.
It is Christ who rose from the dead, who is appointed to
rise and to judge all mankind ; and therefore it is nat-
ural for the apostles in their writings, who desire to keep
the death and resurrection of Christ always in the view
of their converts, to point to the awful events of that day,
when their Saviour, risen from the dead, shall appear
in the execution of his glorious commission, and judge
the world. Thus St. Paul preaches to the Athenians,
Acts xvii. 30. '^ God now commands all men every
where to repent, becauiie he hath appoiiitnd a day in
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 57
which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that
man whom he hath ordained ; whereof lie hath given
assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the
dead." And in many other places he connects our resur-
rection and future recompences with the resurrection of
Christ.
And in this respect, as well as in some others, the
doctrine of rewards and punishments after the resurrec-
tion, seems to carry such superior force in it, especially
upon those who believe the gospel, that it is no wonder
the NeAV Testament more frequently refers to this great
day of resurrection ; and the apostle derives the chief part
of his consolations or terrors from it.
2. Then will be the jmblic and universal retributions
of vice and virtue in a more solemn manner exhibited be-
fore all the world ; whereas the entrance of mankind into
the recompences of the separate state is more private and
personal.
3. Then will be the day of complete rewards and
'punishments of man in both parts of his nature, soul and
body. All the separate state belongs only to the soul;
and even those recompences are but imperfect before, in
comparison of what they will be when body and soul are
united.
4. Then will be the most glorious, visible, and sensi-
ble distinction made between the good and bad : and
since this belongs to the body as well as the soul, it is
very properly set before the eyes of men in the holy
writings, as done at the resurrection ; because corporeal
and sensible things work more powerfully on their im-
agination, and more sensibly and effectually strike the
consciences of men, than the notion of mere spiritual
rewards and punishments in the separate state.
5. The state' of rewards and punishments after the
resuiTection, will be far the longest and most durable
recompence of the good and the bad : and therefore it is
58 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
called etei'iial so often in scripture ; everlasting life, and
everlasting fire. Matt. xxv. 41. Whereas the retribu-
tions of the separate state are comparatively but of short
duration ; and this is another thing that makes a sensi-
ble impression on the hearts of men, viz. the eternal
continuance of the joys and sorrows that follow the last
judgment.
Perhaps it will be replied here, that in the beginning
of this Essay, I represented the separate state as a more
effectual motive to the liopes and fears of men, because
the joys and sorrows of it were so much nearer at hand
than those of the resurrection : and why do I now repre-
sent the recompences of the resurrection under such
characters as are fit to have the strongest influence, and
become the most effectual motive ?
Answ. It is granted, that the recompences after the
resurrection, have several circumstances that carry with
them some peculiar and most powerful motives to reli-
gion and virtue ; but that awful day may still seem to
want this one motive, viz. the nearness of it, Avhich be-
longs eminently to the recompences of the separate state.
Now if the scripture does really reveal the doctrine of
rewards and punishments of souls immediately after
death, and of soul and body together at the resurrection,
then all those circumstances of effectual motive to piety
are collected in our doctrine, viz. the immediate nearness
of them in the separate state, and the public appearance*
the universality, i\\& completeness, ih^ sensibility, and the
duration of them after the great rising- day.
I might yet take occasion, from this objection, to give
a further reason, why the apostles more frequently draw
their motives of hope and fear from the resuiTection and
the great judgment, i. e. that even that day of recom-
pence was generally then supposed to be near at hand,
and so there was less need to insist upon the joys and
sorrows of the separate state.
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 59
As the patriarchs and the Jews of old^ after the Mes-
siah was promised, were constantly expecting his first
comings ahnost in every generation till he did appear ;
and many modes of prophetical expressions in scripture
(which speak of tilings long to come, as though they
were present or just at hand) gave them some occasion
for this expectation ; so the christians of the first age did
generally expect the second coming of Christ to judg-
ment, and tlie resurrection of the dead, in that very age
wherein it was foretold. St. Paul gives us a hint of it
in 2 Thess. ii. 1, 2. They supposed the day of the Lord
ivas just appearing. And many expressions of Christ,
concerning his return or coming again after his depar-
ture, seemed to represent his absence as a thing of no
long continuance. It is true, these words of his may
partly refer to liis coming to destroy Jerusalem, and the
coming in of his kingdom among the Gentiles ; or his
coming by his messenger of death. Yet they generally,
in their supreme and final sense, point to his coming to
raise the dead and judge the world. And from the
words of Christ also concerning John, xxi. 22. If I will
that he tarry till I come. It is probable that the apos-
tles themselves at first, as well as other christians, might
derive this apprehension of his speedy coming.
It is certain, that when Christ speaks of his comings
in general, promiscuous, and parabolical terms ; w hether
with regard to the destruction of Jerusalem, or the judg-
ment of the world, he saith. Matt. xxiv. 34. " Verily I
say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these
things be fulfilled.^' And the apostles frequently told
the world, the coming of the Lord was near, Phil. iv. 5.
'' The Lord is at hand," Heb. x. 25. " Exhorting one
another, so much the more as ye see the day approach-
ing. And that this is the day of the coming of Christ,
ver. 37- assures us, " For yet a little while, he that shall
come will come, and will not tarrv." Rora, xiii. 12;
60 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
^^ Now it is high time to awake out of sleep. The night
is far spent, the day is at hand." 1 Pet. iv. 5. " To him
wlio is ready to judge the quick and the dead." Verse 7.
'^ The end of all things is at hand." James v, 8, 9.
''^ The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Behold the
judge standeth at the door." Rev. xxii. 10. " Seal not
up the prophecy of this book ; for the time is at hand."
Verse 15. "^ And behold I come quickly, and my re-
ward is with me, to give to every man as his work shall
be." And the sacred volume is closed with this assur-
ance, verse 20. ^^ Surely I come quickly ;" and the echo
and the expectation of the apostle or the church. '^ Amen.
Even so, come Lord Jesus."
It is granted, that in prophetical expressions, such ass
all these are, some obscurity is allowed. And it may
be doubtful, perliaps, whether some of them may refer
to Christ's coming, by the destructio of Jerusalem, or
his coming to call particular persons away by his mes-
senger of death, or his appearance to the last judgment.
It is granted also, it belongs to prophetical language to
set things far distant, as it were, before our eyes, and
make them seem presento r very near at hand. But
still these expressions had plainly such an influence on
primitive christians, as that they imagined the day of
resurrection and judgment was very near. And, since
the prophetical words of Christ and his apostles seemed
to cany this appearance in them, and to keep the church
under some uncertainty, it is no wonder that the apostles
chiefly referred the disciples of that age to the day of the
resurrection, for comfort under their sufferings and sor-
rows. And though they never asserted that Christ
would come to raise the dead, and judge the world in
that age, yet when they knew themselves, that he would
not come so soon, tliey might not think it necessary to
give every christian, nor every church, an immediate
account of th§ more distant time of this great event; that
of A SEPARATE STATE. 61
the uncertainty of it might keep them ever watchful.
And even when St. Paul informs the Thessalonians that
the day of the Lord was not so very near as they ima-
gined it, 2 Thess. ii. 2 ; yet he does not put it oft' be-
yond that century by any express language.
Thus we see there is very good reason Avhy the New
Testament should derive its motives of terror and comfort
chiefly from the resurrection and the day of judgment ;
though it is not altogether silent of tlie separate state of
souls, and their happiness or misery, commencing, in
some measure, immediately after death, which has been
before proved by many scriptures cited for that purpose.
Here let it be observed, that I am not concerned in
that question, whether human souls separated from their
bodies, have any other corporeal vehicle to which they
are united, or by which they act, during the intermedi-
ate state between death and the resurrection ? All that
I propose to maintain here, is, that that period or inter-
val is not a state of sleep, i. e. utter unconsciousness and
inactivity. And whether it be united to a vehicle or no,
I call it still the separate state, because it is a state of the
soul's separation from this body, wliich is united to it in
the present life.
SECTION V.
MORE OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
SINCE this book was written, I have met with
several other objections against the doctrine here main-
tained ; and, as I think they may all have a sufficient
answer given to them, and the truth be defended against
the force of them, I thought it very proper to lead the
reader into a plain and easy solution of them.
6i8 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
Objection VII. Is not long life represented often in
scripture^ and especially in the Old Testament^ as a
blessing to man ? And is not death set before us as a
curse or punishment ? But how can either of these rep-
resentations be just or true, if souls exist in a separate
state ? Are they not then brought into a state of liberty
by death^ and freed from all the inconveniences of this
flesh and blood? By this means death ceases to be a
punishment^ and long life to be a blessing.
Answer. It is according as the characters of men are
either good or bad, and according as good men know
more or less of a separate state of rewards or punish-
ments, so a long life, or early death, are to be esteemed
blessings or calamities, in a greater or^ less degree.
Long life was represented as a blessing to good men,
in as much as it gave them opportunity to enjoy more of
the blessings of this life, and to do more service for God
in the world. And especially since, in ancient times,
there was much darkness upon this doctrine of the future
state, and many good men had not so clear a knowledge
of it. Long life was also a blessing to w icked men, be-
cause it kept them in a state wherein there w ere some
comforts, and withheld them for a season, from the pun-
ishments of the separate state.
Death was doubtless a punishment and a curse, when
it was first brought into human nature by the sin of
Adam, as it cut off mankind from the blessings of this
life, and plunged him into a dark and unknown state.
And if he were a wicked man, it plunged him into cer-
tain misery.
But since the blessings of the future state of happi-
ness for good men are more clearly revealed, long life
is not so very great a blessing, nor death so great a
punishment to good men ; for death is sanctified by the
covenant of grace, to be an introduction of their souls
I
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 63
into the separate state of happiness, and the curse is
turned in some respect into a blessing.
Objection VIII. Was it not supposed to be a great
privilege to Enoch and Elijah, when they were transla-
ted without dying ? But what advantage could it be to
either of them to carry a body with them to heaven, if
their souls could act without it ?
I ansicer, when Enoch and Elijah carried their bo-
dies to heaven with them, it was certainly a sublime
honor, and a peculiar privilege which they enjoyed, to
have so early an happiness both in flesh and spirit, con-
ferred upon them so many ages before the rest of man-
kind. For though the soul can act without the body,
yet as the body is part of the compounded nature of man,
our happiness is not designed to be complete till the
soul and body are united in a state of perfection and
glory. And this happiness was conferred early on those
two favorites of heaven.
Objection IX. Was it not designed as a favor, when
persons were raised from the dead, under the Old Tes-
tament or the New, by the prophets, by Christ, and by
his apostles ? But what benefit could this be to them, if
they had consciousness and enjoyment in the other world ?
Was it not rather an injury to bring them back from a
state of happiness into such a miserable world as this ?
Answer i. Since these souls were designed to be
soon restored to their bodies, and the persons were to ])«
raised to a mortal life again in a few days, it is probable
they were kept just in the same state of immemorial con-
sciousness, as the soul is in while the body is in the
deepest sleep ; and so were not immediately sent to
heaven or hell, or determined to a state of sensible hap-
piness or misery. Then when the person was raised to
life again, there was no remembrance of the intermediate
state ; but all the consciousness of that day or two, van-
64f ESSAY TOWARD THE PROO]'
islied, and were forgotten for ever, as it is with us when
we sleep soundly without dreaming.
Answer 2. If those who are raised by Christ, or the
prophets, or the apostles, were pious persons, they sub-
mitted by the will of God to a longer continuance in this
world amidst some difficulties and sorrows ; which sub-
mission would be abundantly recompenced hereafter.
If they were not good persons, their renewed life on
earth was a reprieve from punishment. So there was no
injury done to any of them.
As for those who were raised at the resurrection of
Christy and were seen by many persons in the holy cityy
there is no dou])t but they were raised to immortality,
and ascended to heaven when Christ did, as part of
his triumphant attendants, and went to dwell with him
in the heavenly state.
Objection X. If.the martyis and confessors were to
be partakers of the first resurrection in Rev. xx. 4, 5.
would not this be punishment instead of a blessing, to be
called from the immediate presence of God, and Christ,
and angels, to be re-united to bodies on earth, and dwell
here again with men ? Therefore it seems more prob-
able, that the souls of tliese holy martyrs, had no such
separate existence or enjoyment of happiness.
tlnswer. Perhaps neither that text, nor any others in
the Bible foretel the resurrection of any number of
persons to an animal earthly life again in this world :
perhaps that prophecy means no more, than that the
cause of Christ and religion, for w hich men were mar-
tyred and beheaded heretofore, shall rise again in the
world, and the professors of it in that day shall be in
flourishing circumstances for a thousand years, or a
very long season : so that in prophetic language these
words do not signify the same individual martyrs or
confessors, but their successors in the same faith and
practice.
OF A SEPARATE STATE, 65
Or if there should be any resurrection of good men to
an animal life in this world, foretold by the prophets,
and intended by the great and blessed God, I doubt not
but they would be here so far separated from the wick-
ed world, where sins and sorrows reign, that it would
be a gradual advance of their happiness, beyond what
they enjoyed before in the separate state.
Objection XI. Though man is often said to be a com-
pounded creature of soul and body, yet in scripture iie
is represented as one being. It is the man that is born,
that lives, that sleeps or wakes, and that rises from the
dead. This is evident in many places of scripture,
where these things are spoken of. And it seems to be
the law of our nature or being, that we should always
act and live in such a state as souls united to bodies,
and never in a state of separation.
Answer. Though there are several scriptures which
represent man as one being, viz. soul and body united,
yet there are many other scriptures which have been
cited in the former parts of this Essay, wherein the souls
and the bodies of men are represented as two very dis-
tinct things. The one goes to the grave at death, and
the other either into Abraham's bosom, or to a place of
torment ; either to dwell with God, to be present with
Christ the Lord, and to become one of the spirits of the
just made perfect, or to go to their own place as Judas
did. Now those texts, where man is represented as one
being, may be explained with very great ease, consid-
ering man as made up of two distinct substances, viz.
body and spirit, united into one personal agent, as we
have shewn before. But the several texts, where the
soul and body are so strongly and plainly distinguished,
as has been before represented, there is no possible way
of representing these scriptures, but by supposing a sep-
arate state of existence for soals after the body is dead ;
9
66 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
which makes it necessary that this exposition should
take place.
Objection XII. How comes death to be called so
often in scripture a sleep, if the soul wakes all the while ?
Answer. Why is the repose of man every night called
sleep, since the soul wakes, as appears by a thousand
dreams? But as a sleeping man ceases to act in the
business or affairs of this world, though the soul be
not dead or unthinking, so death is called sleep, because
during that state, men are cut off from the business of
this world, though the soul may think and act in anotlier.
Objection XIII. The scripture speaks often of the
general judgment of mankind, at tlie last great day of
the resurrection ; but it does not teach us the doctrine of
a particular judgment, which the soul is supposed to
pass under, when every single man dies. Why then
should we invent such a supposition, or believe such a
doctrine of a particular judgment in a separate state ?
Answer. It is evident in many scriptures, as we have
shewn before, that the souls of men after death, are rep-
resented as enjoying pleasure or punishment in the sep-
arate state. The soul of Lazarus in heaven, the soul of
Dives in hell, the soul of Paul as h&ixi^ present icith the
Lord, tcliich is far better than dwelling in this flesli, or
being present with this body, &c. Therefore there must
be a sort of judgment or sentence of determination, past
upon every such soul by the great God, whether it shall
be happy or miserable. For it can never be supposed,
that happiness or misery should be given to such souls,
without the determination of Grod, the Judge of all. And
perhaps that text. Heb. ix. 27, refers to it — It is ap-
pointed unto men once to die, but after this the judg-
ment; i. e, immediately after it.
Or suppose that in the separate state the pleasures or
sorrows, which attend souls departing from the body,
should be only such as are the necessary consequents of
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 67
a life spent in the practice of vice or of virtue, of religion
or ungodliness, without any formalities of standing be-
fore a judgment seat, or a solemn sentence of absolution
or condemnation. Yet the very entrance upon this
state, whether it be of peace or of torment, must be sup-
posed to signify, that the state of that soul is adjuiiged
or determined, by the great Grovernor of tlie world.
And this is all that is necessarily meant by a particular
judgment of each soul at death, whether it pass under
the solemn formalities of a judgment and a tribunal
or not.
Objection XIV. If the saints can be happy without
a body, what need of a resurrection ? Let the body be
as refined, as active, as powerful and glorious as it can
be, still it must certainly be a clog to the soul. And
this was the objection that the heathen philosophers
made to the doctrine of the resurrection, which the chris-
tians profess ; for the philosophers told them, this res-
urrection, which they called their highest reward^ was
really a punishment.
Answer. The force of this objection has been quite
taken away before, when it has been shewn that man,
being a creature compounded of body and spirit, was
designed for its highest happiness, and the perfection of
its nature in this state of union, and not in a state of sep-
aration. And let it be observed, that when the body
shall be raised from the grave, it shall not be such flesh
and blood as we now wear, nor made up of such mate-
rials, as shall clog or obstruct the soul in any of its most
vigorous and divine exercises ; but it shall be a spint-
ual body ; 1 Cor. xv. 44 ; a body fitted to serve a holy
and a glorified spirit in its actions and its enjoyments ;
and to render the spirit capable of some further excel-
lencies, both of action and enjoyment, than it is naturally
capable of without a body. What sort of qualities this
new raised body shall be endued with, in order to in-
68 ESSAY TOWARD THE PROOF
crease the excellency or the happiness of pious souls,
will be, in a gerat measure, a mystery or a secret, till
that blessed morning appears.
Objection XV. Is not our immortality in scripture
described as built upon the incorruptible state of our
new raised bodies ? 1 Cor. xv. 53. " This corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
iuimortality,'^ But the doctrine of the immortality of
the soul, is not particularly found or taught in scripture.
Answer. It is granted that the immortality of the new
raised body, is built on that corruptible sort of materials
of which it is to be formed, or which shall be mingled
with it ; or the incorruptible qualities which shall be
given to it by God himself. But the soul is immortal
in itself, whether with or witliout a body. And he that
can read all those texts of scripture which have been
before made use of in this Essay, wherein the existence
of the spirit after the death of the body, is so plainly
expressed, and cannot find the immortality of the soul
in them, or the sjnrifs capacity of existence in a sep-
arate state from the body, must be left to his own senti-
ments, to explain and verify the expressions of Christ
and his apostles some other way ; or he must acknowl-
edge that these expressions are somewhat uncautious
and dangerous, since it is evident they lead thousands
and ten thousands of wise and sober readers into this
sentiment of the souFs immortality.
Whether the soul in its own nature be necessarily
immortal, is a point of philosophy, and not to be sought
for directly in scripture. But whether the great God,
the Governor of the world, has not appointed souls to
exist in a separate state of happiness or misery, after tlie
bodies are dead, seems to me to be so plainly determin-
ed in many of the scriptures which liave been cited, as
leaves no sufficient reason to doubt of the truth of it.
To conclude — Though I think the doctrine of the
OF A SEPARATE STATE. 69
separate state of souls to be of much importance in
Christianity, and that the denial of it carries great incon-
veniencies, and weakens the motive to virtue and piety,
by putting off all manner of rewards and punishments,
to such a distance as the general resurrection, yet I dare
not contend for it as a matter of such absolute necessity,
that a man cannot be a christian without it. But this
must be confessed, that they who deny this doctrine,
seem to have need of stronger inward zeal to guard them
against temptation, and to keep their hearts always alive
and watchful to God and religion, since their motives
to strict piety and virtue are sensibly weakened, by re-
nouncing all belief of this nearer and more immediate
commencement of heaven or hell.
DISCOURSES
ON THE WORLD TO COME.
DISCOURSE I.
THE END OF TIME.
Hev. X. 5, 6. And the angel which I saw stand upon
the sea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to
heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and
ever, — That there should be time no longer.
THIS is the oath and the solemn sentence of a
mighty angel who came down from heaven ; and by the
description of him in the first verse, he seems to be the
angel of God's presence, in whom is the name of God,
even our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who pronounced
and sware that time should be no longer ; for all seasons
and times are now put into his hand, together with the
book of his Father's decrees, Rev. v. ^, 9. What spe-
cial age or period of time in this world the prophecy
refers to, may not be so easy to determine ; but this is
certain, that it may be happily applied to the period of
every man's life ; for whensoever the term of our con-
tinuance in this world is finished, our time, in the pres-
ent circumstances and scenes that attend it, shall be no
more. We shall be swept oif the stage of this visible
state, into an unseen and eternal world. Eternity
comes upon us at once, and all that we enjoy, all that
we do, and all that we suffer in time, shall be no longer.
Let us stand still here, and consider in the first place
what awful and important thoughts are contained in this
THE END OP TIME. 71
sentence, what solemn ideas should arise to the view of
mortal creatures, when it shall be pronounced concerning
each of them, that time shall he no more.
1. The time of the recovery of our nature from its
sinful and wretched state shall be no longer. We come
into this world fallen creatures, childen of iniquity, and
heirs of death; we have lost the image of God who
made us, and which our nature enjoyed in our first
parents ; and instead of it we are changed into the image
of the devil in the lusts of the mind, in pride and malice,
in self-sufficiency and enmity to God ; and we have put
on also the image of the brute in sinful appetites and
sensualties, and in the lusts of the flesh ; nor can we
ever be made truly happy till the image of the blessed
God be restored upon us, till we are made holy as he is
holy, till we have a divine change passed upon us,
whereby we are created anew and reformed in heart
and practice. And this life is the only time given us
for this important change. If this life be finished before
the image of God be restored to us, this image will
never be restored ; but we shall bear the likeness of
devils for ever ; and perhaps the image of the brute too
at the resurrection of the body, and be farther off from
God and all that is holy than ever we were here upon
earth.
Of what infinite importance is it then to be frequently
awakening ourselves at special seasons and periods of
life to enquire, whether this image of God is begun to be
renewed ; whether we have this glorious change wrought
in us ; whether our desires and delights are fixed upon
holy and heavenly things, instead of those sensual and
earthly objects which draw away all our souls from
God and Jseaven. Let it appear to us as a matter of
utmost moment to seek after this change ; let us pursue
it with unwearied labors and strivings with our own
hearts, and perpetual importunities at the throne of
7S THE END OF TIME.
grace, lest tlie voice of him ^vllo swears that there shall
be time no longer, should seize us in some unexpected
moment, and least he swear in his wrath concerning us,
let him that is unholy be unholy still, and let him that is
filthy, be filthy still.
2. When this sentence is pronounced concerning us,
the season and the means of restoring us to the favor and
love of God shall be no longer. We are born children
of wrath as well as tlie sons and daugliters of iniquity,
Ephes. ii. 2. We have lost the original favor of our
Maker and are banished from his love, and the superior
blessings of his goodness ; and yet, blessed be the Lord,
that we are not at present for ever banished beyond all
hope. Tliis time of life is given us to seek the recovery
of the love, of God, by returning to him according to the
gospel of his Son. Now is pardon and peace, now is
grace and salvation preached unto men, to sinful wretch-
ed men, who are at enmity with God and the objects of
his high displeasure : now the voice of mercy calls to
us, '^ This is the accepted time, this is the day of salva-
tion :" 2 Cor. vi. 2. " To-day if ye will hear his voice,
let not your hearts be hardened to refuse it." Now the
fountain of the blood of Christ is set open to wash our
souls from the guilt of sin ; now all the springs of his
mercy are broken up in the ministrations of the gospel ;
now God is in Christ, reconciliyig sinners to himself,
and he has sent us, his ministers, to intreat you in ChrisPs
stead, be ye reconciled to God ; and we beseech you in
his name, continue not one day, or one hour longer in
your enmity and rebellion, but be ye reconciled to God,
your creator, and accept of his offered forgiveness and
grace ; 2 Cor. v. 20,
The moment is hastening upon us, Avhen this mighty
angel, who manages the affairs of the kingdom of provi-
dence, shall swear concerning every unbelieving and
impenitent sinner, that the " time of offered mercy shall
THE END OP TIME. 73
be 110 longer, the time of pardon, and grace, and recon-
ciliation shall be no more." The sound of this mercy
reaches not to the regions of the dead : those who die
before they are reconciled, they die under the load of
all their sins, and must perisli for ever, without the least
hope or glimpse of reconciling or forgiving grace.
3. At the term of this mortal life, the time of 'prayev
and repentance, and service for God or man in this
ivorld shall he no longer. Eccl. ix. 10 ; " There is no
work nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the
grave whither thou goest," whither we are all hasten-
ing. Let every sinful creature tlierefore ask himself,
have I never yet began to pray ? never began to call
upon the mercy of the God that made me ? never be-
gan to repent of all my crimes and follies ? nor begun
in good earnest to do service for God, or to honor him
amongst men ? Dreadful tliought indeed ! When it may
be the next hour we may be put out of all capacity and
opportunity to do it for ever ! As soon as ever an im-
penitent sinner has the vail of death drawn over him, all
his opportunities of this kind are forever cut oif. He that
has never repented, never prayed, never honored his
God, shall never be able to pray or repent, or do any
thing for God or his honor, through all the ages of his
future immortality. Nor is there any promise made to
returning or repenting sinners in the other world, whither
we are hastening. As the tree falls, when it is cut down,
so it lies ; and it must for ever lie, pointijig to the 7iortk
or the south, to hell or heaven. Eccles. xi. 3.
And indeed there is no true prayer, no sincere repen-
tance can be exercised after this life ; for the soul that
has wasted away all its time given for repentance and
pVayer, is, at the moment of death, left under everlast-
ing hardness of heart ; and whatsoever enmity against
God and godliness was found in the heart in this world
is increased in the world to come, when all manner of
10
74 THE END OF TIME.
softening means and mercies are ever at an end. This
leads me to tlie next thought.
4. How wretched soever our state is at death, the day
of hope is ended, and it returns no more. Be our
circumstances never so bad, yet we are not completely
wretched while the time of hope remains. We are all
by nature miserable by reason of sin, but it is only de-
spair can perfect our misery. Therefore fallen angels
are sealed up under misery because there is no door of
hope opened for them. But in this life there is hope
for the worst of sinful men. There is a word of grace
and hope calling them in the gospel ; there is the voice
of divine mercy sounding in the sanctuary, and blessed
are they that hear the joyful sound. But if we turn the
deaf ear to the voice of God and his Son, and to all the
tender and compassionate intreaties of a dying Saviour,
hope is hastening to its period ; for this very angel will
shortly swear, that this joyful sound shall be heard no
longer.
He comes now to the door of our hearts, he sues there
for remittance, " Open unto me and receive me as your
Saviour and your Lord, give me and my gospel free
admission, and I will come in and bestow upon you the
riches of my grace and all my salvation. Open your
hearts to me with the holy desires and humble submis-
sion of penitence, and receive the blessings of righteous-
ness, and pardon, and eternal life." He now invites
you to return to God with an acknowledgement and re-
nunciation of every sin, and he offers to take you by the
hand and introduce you into his Father's presence with
comfort. This is a day of hope for the vilest and most
hateful criminals ; but if you continue to refuse, he will
shortly swear in liis wrath, you shall never enter into
his kingdom, you shall never taste of the provisions of
his grace, you shall never be partakers of the blessings
purchased with his blood, Heb. iii. 18. " I swear in my
THE END OF TIME. 75
wrath," saith the Lord;, " they shall not enter into my
rest.''
Oh ! the dreadful state of sinful creatures, who contin-
ue in such obstinacy, who waste away the means of grace
and the seasons of hope, week after week, and month
after month, till the day of grace and hope is for ever
at an end with them ! Hopeless creatures ! Under the
power and the plague of sin, under the wrath and curse
of a God, under the eternal displeasure of Jesus who
was once the minister of his Father's love ; and they
must abide under all this wretchedness through a long
eternity, and in the land of everlasting despair. But I
forbear that theme at present, and proceed.
5. At the moment of our death the time of our pre-
paration for the hour of judgment^ and for the insur-
ance of heaven and happiness shall be no longer. Mis-
erable creatures that are summoned to die thus unpre-
pared ! This life is the only time to prepare for dying,
to get ready to stand before the Judge of the whole earth,
and to secure our title to the heavenly blessedness. Let
my heart enquire, " Have I ever seriously begun to
prepare for a dying hour, and to appear before the Judge
of all ? Have I ever concerned myself in good earnest to
secure an interest in the heavenly inheritance, when this
earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved ? Have I ever
made interest for the favor of God and a share of the in-
heritance of the saints, by Jesus the great Meditator,
while he afforded life and time ?''
Death is daily and hourly hastening upon us : death
is the king of terrors, and will fulfil all his name to
every soul that is unprepared. It is a piece of wisdom
then for every one of us, since we must die, to search
and feel whether death has lost its sting or no ; wheth-
er it be taken away by the blood of Christ ? Is this blood
sprinkled on my conscience by the humble exercise of
faith on a dying Saviour ? Are the terrors of death re-
70 TKE END OF TIME.
moved, and am I |3repared to meet it by the sanctifying
influences of the blessed spirit ? Have I such an interest
in the covenant of grace as takes away the sting of death,
as turns the curse into a blessing, and changes the dark
scenes of death into the commencement of a new and
everlasting life ? This is that preparation for dying for
which our time of life w as given us ; and happy are
those who were taught of God to makfe this use of it.
Judgment is making haste towards us; months and
days of divine patience are flying swift away, and the
last great day is just at hand. Then we must give an
account of all that has been done in the hody^ ivhether it
has been good or evil: and wliat a dismal and distressing
surprise will it be to have the Judge come upon us in a
blaze of glory and terror, while we have no good ac-
count to give at his demand ? And yet this is the very
end and design of all our time, which is lengthened out
to us on this side the grave, and of all the- advantages
that we have enjoyed in this life, that we may be ready
to render up our account with joy to the Judge of all the
earth.
Heaven is not ours by birth and inheritance, as lands
and houses on earth descend to us from our earthly
parents. We as well as they are by nature unfit for
heaven and children of wrath ; but we may be born
again, we may be born of God, and become heirs of the
heavenly inheritance tlu'ough Jesus Christ. We may
be renewed into the temper and spirit of heaven ; and
this life is the only season that is given us for this im-
portant change. Shall we let our days and years pass
away one after anotlier in long succession, and continue
the children of wrath still ? Are we contented to go on
this year as the last, without a title to lieaven, without a
divine temper, and without any preparation for the busi-
ness or the blessedness of that happy w orld ?
6. When this life comes to an end, the time of all onr
THE END OF TIME. 77
earthly comforts and amusements shall he no 7nore. We
shall have none of these sensible things around us, to
employ or entertain our eyes or our ears, to gratify our
appetites, to sooth our passions, or to support our spirits
in distress. All the infinite variety of cares, labours and
joys, which surround us here, shall be no more ; life,
with all the busy scenes and the pleasing satisfactions of
it dissolve and perish together. Have a care then that
you do not make any of them your chief hope, for they
are but the things of time, they are all short and dying
enjoyments.
Under the various calamities of this life we find a
variety of sensible reliefs, and our thoughts and souls
are called away from their sorrows by present business,
or diverted by present pleasures ; but all these avoca-
tions and amusements will forsake ns at once, when we
drop this mortal tabernacle ; we must enter alone into
the world of spirits, and live without them tliere.
Whatsoever agonies or terrors, or huge distresses, we
may meet within that unknown region, we sliall have
none of these sensible enjoyments to soften and allay
them, no drop of sweetness to mix with that bitter cup,
no scenes of gaiety and merriment to relieve the gloom
of that utter darkness, or to sooth the anguish of that
eternal heart-ache. O take heed, my friends, that your
souls do not live too much on any of the satisfactions of
this life, that your affections be not set upon them in too
high a degree, that you make tliem not your idols and
your chief good, lest you be left helpless and miserable
under everlasting disappointment, for they cannot follow
you into the world of souls ; they are the things of
time, and they have no place in eternity. Read what
caution the apostle Paul gives us in our converse with
the dearest comforts of life ; 1 Cor. vii. 29. The time
is short ; and let those who have the largest affluence of
temporal blessings, who have the nearest and kiwde^t
78 THE END OF TIME.
relatives, and the most endeared friendships, be morti-
fied to them, and be, in some sense, as though they had
them not, for ye cannot possess them long. St. Peter
joins in the same sort of advice, 1 Pet. iv. 7- The end
of all things is at hand, therefore he ye sober, be ye
moderate in every enjoyment on earth, and prepare to
part with them all, when the angel pronounces that time
shall he no longer. His sentence puts an eifectual pe-
riod to every joy in this life, and to every hope that is
not eternal.
Thus we have taken a brief survey, what are the
solemn and awful thoughts relating to such mortal crea-
tures in general, which are contained in this voice or
sentence of the angel, that time shall he no longer.
In the second place let us proceed further, and in-
quire a little wliat are those terrors which will attend
sinners, impenitent sinners, at the end of time.
1. *3 dreadful account must be given of all this lost
and wasted time. When the Judge shall ascend his
throne in the air, and all the sons and daughters of Adam
are brought before him, the grand inquiry will be,
Wliat have you done with all the time of life in yonder
world ? <^ You spent thirty or forty years there, or per-
haps seventy or eighty, and I gave you this time with a
thousand opportunities and means of grace and salva-
tion ; what have you done with them all ? How many
Sabbaths did I aiford you ? How many sermons have
ye heard ? How many seasons did I give you for prayer
and retirement, and converse with God and your own
souls ? Did you improve time well ? Did you pray ?
Did you converse with your souls and with God ? Or
did you suffer time to slide away in a thousand imper-
tinences, and neglect the one thing necessary?"
2. A fruitless and hitter mourning for the tvaste and
abuse of time will be another consequence of your folly.
Whatsoever satisfaction you may take now in passing
THE END OF TIME. 79
time away merrily and without thinking, it must not
pass away so for ever. If the approaches of death do not
awaken you, yet judgment will do it. Your consciences
will be worried with terrible reflections on your foolish
conduct.
O could we but hear the complaints of the souls in
hell, what multitudes of them would be found groan-
ing out this dismal note, *' How hath my time been lost
in vanity, and my soul is now lost for ever in distress."
!How might I have shone among the saints in heaven, had
I wisely improved the time which was given me on pur-
pose to prepare for death and heaven ? Then they will
for ever curse themselves, and call themselves eternal
fools, for hearkening to the temptations of flesh and
sense, which wasted their time, and deprived them of
eternal treasures.
4. Another of the terrors which will seize upon im-
penitent sinners at the end of time, will be endless de-
spair of the recovery of lost time, and of those blessings
whose hojje is for ever lost with it. There are blessings
offered to sinful, miserable men in time, which will never
be offered in eternity, nor put within their reach for ever.
The gospel hath no calls, no invitations, no encourage-
ments, no promises for the dead, who have lost and wast-
ed their time, and are perished without hope. The
region of sorrow, whither the Judge shall drive impeni-
tent sinners, is a dark and desolate place, where light
and hope can never come. But fruitless repentance,
with horrors and agonies of soul, and doleful despair,
reign through that world, without one gleam of light, or
hope, or one moment of intermission. Then will de-
spairing sinners gnaw tijeir tongues for anguish of heart,
and curse themselves with long execrations, and curse
their fellow sinners, wJio assisted them to waste their
time, and ruin their souls.
4. The last terror I shall mention which will attend
80 THE END OF TIME.
sinners at the end of time, is an eternal suffering of all
the paiufiil and dismal consequences of lost and wasted
time. Not one smile from the face of God for ever ;
not one glimpse of love or mercy in his countenance ;
not one vrord of grace from Jesus Christ who was once
the chief messenger of the grace of God ; not one favor-
able regard from all the holy saints and angels ; but the
lire and brimstone burn without end, and the smoke of
this their torment will ascend for ever and ever before
the throne of God and the Lamb.
Who knows how keen and bitter will be the agonies
of an awakened conscience, and the vengeance of a pro-
voked God in that world of misery ? How will you cry
out, " O what a wretch have I been to renounce all the
advices of a compassionate father, when he would have
persuaded me to improve the time of youth and health !
Alas, I turned a deaf ear to his advice, and now time
is lost, and my hopes of mercy for ever perished. How
have I treated with ridicule among my vain companions,
the compassionate and pious counsels of my aged par-
ents, who laboured for my salvation? How have 1
scorned the tender admonitions of a mother, and wasted
that time in sinning and sensuality, which should have
been spent in prayer and devotion ? And God turns a
deaf ear to my cries now, and is regardless of all my
groanings.*' Tliis sort of anguish of spirit, with loud
and cutting complaints, would destroy life itself, and
these inward terrors would sting their souls to death, if
there could be any such thing as dying there. Such
sighs and sobs and bitter agonies, would break their
hearts, and dissolve their being, if the heart could break,
or the being could be dissolved. But immortality is
their dreadful portion, immortality of sorrows to punish
their wicked and wilful abuse of time, and that waste of
the means of grace they were guilty of in their mortal
state.
THE END OF TIME. 81
I proceed in the last place to consider what reflections
may be made on this discourse, or what are some of the
jjvqfitable lessons to be learnt from it.
Reflection I. We may learn with great evidence the
inestimable worth and value of timey and particularly to
those who are not prepared for eternity. Every hour
you live, is an hour longer given you to prepare for dying,
and to save a soul. If you were but apprized of the
wortli of your own souls, you would better know the
worth of days and hours, and of every passing moment,
for tliey are given to secure your immortal interest, and
save a soul from everlasting misery. And you would
be zealous and importunate in the prayer of Moses, tlie
man of God, upon a meditation of the sliortness of life,
Psal. xc. IS. ^'So teach us to number our days as to
apply our hearts to wisdom ;" i. e. so teach us to con-
sider liow few and uncertain our days are, that we may
be truly wise in preparing for the end of them.
It is a matter of vast importance to I)e ever ready for
the end of time, ready to iiear this awful sentence con-
firmed with the oath of the glorious angel, that time
shall he no longer. The terrors or the comforts of a
dying bed depend upon it : the solemn and decisive
voice of judgment depends upon it : the joys and the
sorrows of a long eternity depend upon it. Go now,
careless sinner, and in the view of such things as these,
go and trifle away time as you have done before : time,
that invaluable treasure. Go and venture the loss of
your souls, and the hopes of heaven and your eternal
happiness, in wasting away the remnant hours or mo-
ments of life : but remember the awful voice of the an-
gel is hastening towards you, and the sound is just break-
ing in upon you, thatfime shall he no longer.
Reflection II. Jl due sense of time hastening to its
period will furnish us with perpetual new occasions of
holy meditation.
11
S2 THE END or TIME.
Do I observe tlie declining day, and the setting sun
sinking into darkness ; so declines the day of life, the
hours of labour, and the season of grace. O may I
finish my appointed work with honour before the light
is fled ! May I improve the shining hours of grace be-
fore the shadows of the evening overtake me, and my
time of working is no more !
Do I see tlie moon gliding along through midnight,
and fulfilling her stages in the dusky sky? this planet
also is measuring out my life, and bringing the number
of my months to their end. May I be prepared to
take leave of the sun and moon, and bid adieu to tliese
visible heavens, and all the twinkling glories of them !
these are all but tlie measures of my time, and hasten
me on towards eternity.
Am I walking in a garden and stand still to observe
the slow motion of tlie shadow upon a dial there ? It
passes over the hour-lines with an imperceptible pro-
gress, yet it will touch the last line of day-light sliortly :
so my hours and my moments move onward with a silent
pace ; but they will arrive w ith certainty at the last
limit, hoAV heedless soever I am of their motion, and
how thouglitless soever I may be of the improvement of
time, or of tlie end of it.
Does a new year commence, and the first morning of
it dawn upon me ? let me remember that the last year
was finished, and gone over my head, in order to make
way for the entrance of the present : I liave one year the
less to travel through this world, and to fulfil the vari-
ous services of a travelling state. May my diligence in
duty be doubled, since the number of my appointed
years is diminished.
Do I find a new birth-day in my survey oi the calen-
der, the day wherein I entered upon the stage of mor-
tality, and was born into tliis world of sins, frailties and
sorrows, in order to my probation for a better state
THE END OF TIME. 8-3
Elessed Lord, how much have I spent already of this
mortal life, this season of ray probation, and how little
am I prepared for that happier w orld ? how unready
for my dying moment ? I ara hastening hourly to the
end of the life of man which began at my nativity. Am
I yet born of God ? have I begun the life of a saint ?
am I prepared for that awful day which shall determine
tlie number of ray months on eartli ? am I fit to be born
into the world of spirits tln-ougli the strait gate of death?
am I renewed in all the powers of my nature, and made
meet to enter into that unseen world, where tliere shall
be no more of these revolutions of days and years, but
one eternal day fills up all the space witli divine pleas-
ure, or one eternal night with long deplorable distress
and darkness ?
When I see a friend expiring, or tlie corps of my
neighbor conveyed to the grave, alas ! Their months
and minutes are all determined, and tlie seasons of their
trial are finished for ever ; tliey are gone to their eter-
nal home, and the estate of their souls is fixed unchange-
ably. Tlie angel that has sworn their time shall he no
longer^ lias concluded their hopes, or has finished their
fears, and, according to the rules of righteous judgment,
has decided their misery or happiness for a long immor-
tality. Take this warning, O my soul, and think of
thy own removal.
Are we standing in the church-yard, paying the last
honours to the relics of our friends ? what a number of
hillocks of death appear all around us ? what are the
tomb-stones, but memorials of the inhabitants of that
town, to inform us of the periods of all their lives, and
to point out the day when it was said to each of them,
your time shall be no longer. O may 1 readily learn
this important lesson, that my turn is hastening too 5
such a little hillock shall shortly arise for me in some
unknown spot of ground, it shall cover this flesh and
84 THE END OF TIME.
these bones of miue in darkness, and shall hide them
from the light of the sun, and from the sight of man till
the heavens be no more.
Perhaps some kind surviving friend may engrave my
name, with the number of my days, upon a plain funeral
stone, without ornament, and below envy : there shall
my tomb stand among the rest as a fresh monument of
the frailty of nature and the end of time. It is possible
some friendly foot may now and then visit the place of
my repose, and some tender eye may bedew t!ie cold
memorial with a tear : one or another of my old ac-
quaintance may possibly attend there to learn the silent
lecture of mortality from my grave-stone which my lips
are now preaching aloud to the world : and if love and
sorrow should reach so far, perhaps while his soul is
melting in his eye-lids, and his voice scarce finds an
utterance, he will point with his finger, and shew his
companion the month and the day of my decease. 0
that solemn, that awful day, which shall finisli my ap-
pointed time on earth, and put a full period to all the
designs of my heart, and all the labors of my tongue
and pen !
Think, O my soul, that while friends or strangers are
engaged on that spot, and reading the date of thy de-
parture hence, thou wilt be fixed under a decisive and
unchangeable sentence, rejoicing in the rewards of time
well improved, or suffering the long sorrows which shall
attend the abuse of it, in an unknown world of happi-
ness or misery.
Reflection III. We may learn from this discourse,
the stupid folly and madness of those who are terribly
afraid of the end of time whensoever they think of it,
and yet they know not what to do with their time as it
runs off daily and hourly. They find tlieir souls un-
ready for deatli, and yet they live from year to year
without any farther preparation for dying ; they waste
THE END OF TIME. 85
away their hours of leisure in mere trifling, they Jose
their seasons of grace, their means and opportunities of
salvation, in a thoughtless and shameful manner, as
though they had no business to employ tliem in ; they
live as though they had nothing to do with all their
time but to eat and drink, and be easy and merry. From
the rising to the setting sun, you find them still in pur-
suit of impertincncies ; they waste God's sacred time as
well as their own, either in a lazy, indolent, and care-
less humor, or in following after vanity, sin and mild-
ness, while the end of time is hastening upon them.
What multitudes are there of the race of Adam
both in higher and lower ranks, who are ever complain-
ing they want leisure ; and when they have a release
from business for one day, or one hour, they hardly know
what to do with that idle day, nor how to lay out one
of the hours of it for any valuable purpose ? Those in
higher station and richer circumstances, have most of
their time at their own command and disposal ; but by
their actual disposal of it, you plainly see they know not
what it is good for, nor what use to make of it ; they
are quite at a loss how to get rid of this tedious thing
called time, which lies daily as a burden on their hands.
Indeed if their head-ache, or their face grow pale, and
a physician feel their pulse, or look wishfully on their
countenance ; and especially if he should shake his
head, or tell them his fears that they will not hold out
long, what surprise of soul, what agonies and terrors
seize them on a sudden for fear of the end of time? For
they are conscious how unfit they are for eternity : yet
when the pain vanishes and they feel health again, they
are as much at a loss as ever what to do with the rem-
nant of life.
O the painful and tlie unhappy ignorance of the sons
and daughters of men, that are sent hither on a trial for
eternity, and yet know not how to pass away time ! they
86 THE END OF TIME.
know not liow to wear out life, and get soon enough to
the end of the day : they doze their hours away, or
saunter from place to place^ without any design or mean-
ing ; tliey enquire of every one tliey meet, wJiat they
shall do to Mil time, (as the French phrase is.) because
they cannot spend it fast enough : tliey are perpetually
calling in the assistance of others to laugh, or sport, or
trifle witli them, and to help them oft' A\ilh this dead
weight of time, while at the same UKunent, if you do
but mention the end of time, tliey arc dreadfully afraid
of coming near it. What folly and distraction is this ?
What sottisli inconsistency is found in tlie heart and
practice of sinful men, Eccles. ix. 3 ; The heart of the
sons of men ^ is full of evil, madness is in their heart
while they live, and after that they go doicn to the dead.
O that these loiterers would once consider that time
loiters not ; days and hours, months and years, loiter
not ; each of them flies away with swiftest wing, as fast
as succession admits of, and bears them onward to the
goal of eternity. If they delay and linger among toys
and shadows, time knows no delay; and they will one
day learn by bitter experience what substantial, impor-
tant, and eternal blessings they have lost by their crim-
inal and shameful waste of time. The apostle Peter
assures them, 2. Pet. ii. 3 ; thougli they slumber and
fleep in a lethargy of sin, so that you cannot awaken
them, yet their judgment lingereth not, and their dam-
nation slumhereth not. The awful moment is hasting
upon tiiem which shall teach them terribly the true
value of time ; then they would give all the golden pleas-
ures, and the riclies and the grandeur of this world, to
purchase one short day more, or one hour of time,
wherein tliey might repent and return to God, and get
within the reach of hope and salvation. But time, and
salvation and hope, are all vanished, and fled, and gone
out of their reach for ever.
THE END OF TIJVIE. §7
ilejlection lY. Learn from such meditations as these,
tJie rich mercy of God, and ihe grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, in giving us so long a warning, before he swears
that time sliall be no more. Every stroke of sickness
is a warning-piece that life is coming to its period ;
every death amongst our friends and acquaintance, is
another tender and painful admonition that our death
also is at hand. Tiie end of every week and every
dawning Sabbath is another warning ; every sermon we
liear of the shortness of time, and the lincertaintij of life,
is a fresh intimation that tJie great angel will shortly
pronounce a period upon all our time. How inexcusa-
ble shall we be if we turn the deaf ear to all these Avarn-
iugs ? St. Peter advises us to count the long suffering
of the Lord for salvation. 3 Pet. iii. 15 ; and to secure
our eternal safety, and our escape from liell, during the
season of his lengthened grace.
Alas ! How long has Jesus, and his mercy, and Jiis
gospel, waited on you, before you began to tliiuk of the
things of your everlasting peace? xlnd if you arc now
solemnly awakened, yet how long has he waited on you
with fresh admonitions, and with special providences,
with mercies and judgments, with promises and invita-
tions of grace, with threatnings and words of terror, and
w ith the whispers and advices of his own spirit, since
you began to see your danger ? And after all, have you
yet sincerely repented of sin ? Have you yet received
the offered grace ? Have you given up yourselves to the
Lord and laid liold of his salvation ? 3 Cor. vi. S. This
is the accented time, this is the day of salvation ; To-day
if ye ivill hear his voice harden not your hearts. Heb. iii.
7, 8, §'c. It is never said tln-ough all the Bible, tliat
to-morrow is the day of grace,: or to-morrow is the time
of accejitance. It is the present liour only that is offered.
Every day and every hour is a mercy of unknown im-
portance to sinful men. It is a mercy, O sinners, that
88 THE END OP TIME.
you awake not this morning in liell, and that you were
not fixed without remedy beyond the reach of hope and
mercy.
Reflection V. Learn from this discourse what a very
useful practice it tvould be to set ourselves often before
hand as at the end of time, to imagine ourselves just
under the sound of the voice of this mighty Angel, or at
the tribunal of Christ, and to call our souls to a solemn
account in what manner we liave past away all our lei-
sure time hitherto : I mean, all that time which hath not
been laid out in the necessities of the natural life for its
support and its needful refreshment, or in tlie due and
proper employments of the civil life. Both these are
allowed and required by the God of nature and the God
of providence who goverus the world. Bat what hast
thou done O man ; O woman, what hast tliou done with
all the hours of leisure wliich might liave been laid out
on far better employments, and to far nobler purposes ?
Give me leave to enter into particulars a little, for gen-
erals do but seldom convince the mind, or awaken the
conscience, or affect the heart.
1. Have you not slumbered or squandered away too
much time without any useful 'purpose or design at all?
How many are there, that when they have morning hours
on their hands, can pass them off on their beds, and lose
and forget time in a little more sleep and a little more
slumber ; a few impertinencies with breakfast and dress-
ing wear out the morning without God. And how many
afternoon and evening hours are worn away in such
sauntering idleness as I have described, that when the
night comes they cannot review one half hour's useful
work, from the da^vn of the morning to the hour of rest.
Time is gone and vanislied, and as they knew not Avhat
to do witli it while it was present, so now it is past, they
know not what they have done with it. They keep no
account of it, and are never prepared to come to a reck-
THE END OF TIME. §0
oniiig. But will the great Judge of all take this for
answer to such a solemn inquiry ?
2. Have you never laid out much more time than was
needful in recreations and pleasures of sense ? recrea-
tions are not unlawful so far as they are necessary and
proper to relieve the fatigue of the spirits, when they are
tired with business or labor, and to prepare for new
labors and new business. But have we not followed
sports without measure and without due limitation?
Hath not some of tliat very time been spent in them
which should have been laid out in preparing for death
and eternity, and in seeking things of far higher impor-
tance ?
3. Have you not wasted too niucli time in your fre-
qnent clubs , and what you call good company, and in
places of public resort. Hath not the tavern, or the
coffee-house, or the ale-house, seen and known you from
hour to hour for a whole evening, and that sometimes
before the trade or labors of the day should have been
ended ? And when your Bible and your closet, or the
devotion of your family, have sometimes called upon
your conscience, have you not turned the deaf ear to
them all ?
4. Have not useless and impertinent visits heenvuside
to no good purpose, or been prolonged beyond all ne-
cessity or improvement ? When your conversation runs
low even to the dregs, and both you and your friends have
been at a loss what to say next, and knew not how to fill
up the time, yet the visit must go on, and time must be
wasted. Sometimes tlie wind and the weather, and
twenty insignificancies, or (what is much worse) scandal
of persons or families, have come into your relief, that
there might not be too long a silence ; but not one word of
God or goodness could find room to enter in and relieve
the dull hour. Is none of this time ever to be accounted
for ? And will it sound well in the ears of tlie great
12
90 THE END OF TIME,
Judge, " We ran to these sorry topics, these slanderous
and backbiting stories, because we could not tell what
to talk of, and we knew not how to spend our time."
5. Have you not been guilty of frequent and even
perpetual delays or neglects of your proper necessary
business in tJie civil life, or in the solemn duties of re-
ligion, by busying yourselves in some other needless
thing under this pretence, it is time enough yet P
Have you learnt that important and eternal rule of
prudence, never delay till to-morrow what may be done
to-day ; never put off till the next hour what may be done
in this ? Have you not often experienced your own dis-
appointment and folly by these delays ? And yet have
you ever so repented as to learn to mend them ? Sol-
omon tells us, Eccles. iii. 1, There is a time for every
furpose, and every work, under the sun. A proper and
agreeable time for every lawful work of nature and life.
And it is the business and care of a wise man, to do
proper work in proper time ; but when we have let slip
the proper season, how often have we been utterly dis-
appointed? Have we not sustained great inconvenien-
cies ? And sometimes it hath so happened that we
could never do that work or business at all, because
another proper season for it hath never offered. Time
hath been no more. Felix put off his discourse with
Paul about Hlq faith of Christ, and righteousness, and
judgment to come, to a more convenient time, which
probably never came ; Acts xxiv. 25. And the word of
God teaches us, that if we neglect our salvation in the
present day of grace, the angel in my text is ready to
swear, that time shall he no longer.
Here permit me to put in a short word to those who
have lost much time already.
O my friends, begin now to do what in you lies to re-
gain it, by double diligence in the matters of your salva-
tion, lest the voice of the arch angel should finish your
THE END OF TIME. 91
time of trial, and call you to judgment before you are
prepared.
What time lies before you for this double improvement
God only knows. The remnant of the measure of your
days are with him, and every evening the number is
diminished. Let not the rising sun upbraid you with
continued negligence. Remember your former abuses
of hours, and months, and years, in folly and sin, or at
best in vanity and trifling. Let these thoughts of your
past conduct lie with such an effectual weight on your
hearts, as to keep you ever vigorous in present duty.
Since you have been so lazy and loitering in your chris-
tian race in time past, take larger steps daily, and stretch
all the powers of your souls to hasten towards the crown
and the prize. Hearken to the voice of God in his
word, with stronger attention and zeal to profit. Pray
to a long suffering God with double fervency. Cry
aloud, antl give him no rest till your sinful soul is changed
into penitence, and renewed to holiness, till you have
some good evidences of your sincere love to God, and
unfeigned faith in his Son Jesus. Never be satisfied,
till you are come to a well grounded hope through grace,
that God is your friend, your reconciled Father ; that
when days and months are no more, you may enter into
the region of everlasting light and peace.
But I proceed to the last general remark. Learn the
unspeakable happiness of those who have improved time
wellf and who wait for the end of time with christian
hope. They are not afraid, or at least they need not be
afraid of the sentence, nor the oath of this mighty angel,
when he lifts up his hand to heaven, and swears with a
loud voice. There shall he time no more.
O blessed creatures, who have so happily improved
the time of life and day of grace, as to obtain the restor-
ation of the image of God in some degree, on their souls,
and to recover the favor of God through the gospel of
9S THE END OF TIME,
Christ ; for which end, time was bestowed upon them.
They have reviewed their follies with shame in the land
of hope ; they have mourned and repented of sin, ere
the season of repentance was past, and are become new
creatures, and their lips and their lives declare the divine
change. They have made preparation for death, for
which purpose life and time were given. Happy souls
indeed, who have so valued time as not to let it run ojff
in trifles, but have obtained treasures more valuable than
that time which is gone, even the riches of the covenant
of grace, and the hopes of an eternal inheritance in glory.
Happy such souls indeed, when time is no more with
them ! Their happiness begins when the duration of
their mortal life is finished. Let us survey this their
happiness in a few particulars.
The time of their darkness and difficulties is no lon-
ger. The time of painful ignorance and error is come
to an end. You shall wander no more in mistake and
folly. You shall behold all things in the light of God,
and see him face to face, who is the original beauty and
the eternal truth. You shall see him Avithout vails and
shadows, without the reflecting glass of his word and or-
dinances, which at best give us but a faint glimpse of
him, either in his nature or wisdom, his power or good-
ness. You shall see him in himself, and in his Son
Jesus, the brighest and fairest image of the Father, and
shall know him as you are known ; 1 Cor. xiii. 10, 13.
There is no more time for temptation and danger.
Wlien once you are got beyond the limits of this visible
world, all the enticing objects of flesh and sense, there
shall be no more hazard of your salvation, no more
doubting and distressing fears a])out your interest in your
Father's love, or in the salvation of his beloved Son.
There is no more time nor place for sin to inhabit in
you. The lease of its habitation in your mortal body
must end, when the body itself falls into the dust. You
THE END OF TIME. 93
shall feel no more of its powerful and defiling operations
either in heart or life for ever.
The time of conjlict with your spiritual adversaries is
no longer. There is no more warfare betwixt the flesh
and spirit ; no more combat with tlie world and the devil,
who, by a thousand ways, have attempted to deceive
you, and to bear you off from your heavenly hope. Your
warfare is accomplished ; your victory is complete ; you
are made overcomers through him that has loved you.
Death is the last enemy to be overcome : the sting of it
is already taken away ; and you have now finished the
conquest, and are assured of the crown ; 1 Cor. xv. 5Q^57^
The time of your distance and absence from God is no
more. The time of coldness and indifference, and the
fearful danger of backslidings, is no more. You shall
be made as pillars in the temple of your God, and shall
go no more out. He shall love you like a God, and
kindle the flames of your love to so intense a degree, as
is only known to angels, and to the spirits of the just
made perfect.
There is no more lime for you to be vexed with the
society of sinful creatures. Your spirit within you shall
be no more ruffled and disquieted with the teazing con-
versation of the wicked ; nor shall you be interrupted in
your holy and hea^^enly exercises by any of the enemies
of Grod and his grace.
The time of your painful labors and sufferings is no
more. Rev. xiv. 13. " Blessed are the dead that die
in the Lord ; for they rest from all their labors " that
carry toil or fatigue with them. There shall be no
more complaints nor groans ; no sorrow or crying : the
springs of grief are for ever dried up : neither shall there
be any more pain in the flesh or the spirit. God shall
wipe away all tears from your eyes ; and death shall be
no more ; Rev. xxi. 4.
It is finished, said our blessed Lord on the cross. It
94? THE END OF TIME.
is finished^ may every one of his followers say at the
hour of death, and at the end of time. My sins and fol-
lies, my distresses and my sufferings, are finished for
ever ; and the mighty angel swears to it, that the time of
these evils is no longer. They are vanished, and shall
never return. O happy souls, who have been so wise
to count the short and uncertain number of your days on
earth, as to make an early provision for a removal to
heaven. Blest are you above all the powers of present
thought and language. Days, and months, and years,
and all these short and painful periods of time, shall be
swallowed up in a long and blissful eternity. The
stream of time which has run between the banks of this
mortal life, and bore you along amidst many dangerous
rocks of temptation, fear and sorrow, shall launch you
out into the ocean of pleasures which have no period.
Those felicities must be everlasting, for duration has no
limit there. Time, witli all its measures, shall he no
more. Amen.
DISCOURSE II.
THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN DYING IN
PEACE.
Occasioned by the decease of Mrs. Sarah Abney,
daughter of the late Sir Thomas Abney, Knt. &c.
Preached, April 2, 1733.
Dedicated to the Lady Abney, mother of the deceased^
and to Mrs. Mary and Mrs. Elizabeth Abney,
her two surviving sisters.
Madam,
IF sorrows could be diminished in proportion to
the multitude of those who share in them, the spring of
your tears would have been drawn almost dry, and the
tide of grief have sunk low, by being divided into a
thousand streams. But though this cannot afford perfect
relief to your Ladyship, yet it must be some consolation
to have been blessed with a daughter, whose removal
ft'om our world could give occasion for so general a
mourning.
I confess, Madam, the wound which was made by
such a smarting stroke, is not to be healed in a day or
two ; reason permits some risings of the softer and kinder
passions in such a season ; it shews at least, that our
hearts are not marble, and reveals the tender ingredients
that are moulded up in our frame. Nor does religion
permit us to be insensible when a God afflicts, though
he doth it with the hand of a father and a friend. Na-
96 THE DEDICATION.
ture and love are full of these sensibilities, and incline
you to miss her presence in every place where she was
wont to attend you, and where you rejoiced in her as one
of your dearest blessings. She is taken away indeed
from mortal sight, and to follow her remains to the grave,
and to dwell there, gives but a dark and melancholy view,
till the great rising day. Faith may ken the distant
prospect, and exult in the sight of that glorious futurity ;
yet I think there is also a nearer relief, Madam, to your
sorrows. By the virtues which shone in her life, you
may trace the ascent of her spirit to the world of immor-
tality and joy. Could your Ladyship keep the eye of
your soul directed thither, you would find it an effectual
balm for a heart, that lileeds at the painful remem-
brance of her death. What could your Ladyship have
asked as a higher favor of heaven, than to have born and
trained up a child for that glorious inheritance, and to
have her secured of that possession, beyond all possible
fear or danger of losing it.
This, Madam, is your own divinest hope for your-
self ; and you are hastening on toward that blessed society
as fast as days and hours give leave. When your
thoughts descend to this lower world again, there are
two living comforts near you of the same kind with
what you have lost. May your Ladyship rejoice in
them yet many years, and they in you ! And when
Jesus, who hath the keys of death and the invisble state,
shall appoint the hour for your ascent to heaven, may
you leave tliem behind to bless the world with fair exam-
ples of virtue and piety among men, and a long train of
services for the interest of their Redeemer.
If I were to say any thing, Young Ladies, to you in
particular, it should be in tlie language of our Saviour
and his beloved apostle — »• Hold fast what you have till
the Lord comes, that none may*' deprive you " of your
crown. Take heed to yourselves, tjiat you lose not the
THE DEDICATION.* 9^
things which you have wrought, but that ye receive a full
reward." Go on, and persevere as you have begun, in
the path of true religion and happiness. And in this age
of infidelity and degenerate life, be ye daily more estab-
lished in the christian faith and practice, in opposition
to the smiles and frowns, and every snare of a vain and
delusive world. Let this one thought set a double guard
upon you, that while your elder sister was with you, it
was something easier to resist every temptation, when
she had pronounced the first refusal. Her steadiness
was a guard which you have now lost ; but you have
an Almighty God in covenant on your side ; and the
grace of our Lord Jesus is sufficient for you.
To his care, my Lady, I commend yourself, and
your whole family, with aifectionate petitions ; and am,
Madam,
Your Ladyship's most obliged
and faithful servant,
I. WATTS.
London, April ^, 173S.
THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN DYING IN
PEACE.
A FUNERAL SERMON.
IT is anawfi^l providence which hath lately removed
from among us a youtig person well known to most of
you, whose agreeable temper and conduct had gained
the esteem of all her acquaintance^ whose constitution of
13
9S 1 HE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN
body, together with the furniture of her mind, and cir-
cumstances in the world, concurred to promise many
future years of life and usefulness. But all that is born
of the race of man is frail and mortal ; and all that
is done by the hand of God is wise and holy. We
mourn, and we submit in silence. Yet the providence
hath a voice in it ; and the friends of the deceased are
very solicitous that such an unexpected and instructive
appearance of death, might be religiously improved to the
benefit of the living. For this end 1 am desired to enter-
tain you at present, with some meditations on those words
of our Saviour, which you read in
LUKE, xii. 37.
Blessed are tJiose servants, wJiom the Lord, when he
Cometh, shall find watching.
VARIOUS and well chosen are those parables
whereby our Saviour gave warning to his disciples,
that when he was departed from this world, they s hould
ever be upon their guard, and always in a readiness to
receive him at his return ; because he would come on a
sudden, and in such an hour as they thought not, to de-
mand an account of their behavior, and to distribute his
recompences according to their works. There are two
of these parables in this chapter. But to enter into a
detail of all the particular metaphors whicli relate to this
one, whence I have boiTOwed my text, would be too tedi-
ous here, and would spend too much of the present hour.
Without any longer preface, therefore, I shall apply
myself to improve the words to our spiritual profit, in tlie
following method.
I. I shall enquire what is meant by the coming of Christ
m the text, and how it may be properly applied to our
present purpose, or the hour of death.
II. I shall consider what is implied in the watchfulness
which our Saviour recommends^
DYING IN PEACE. 99
III. I propose some considerations which will discover
the blessedness of the watchful soul in a dying hour.
IV. I shall add some practical remarks.
First, Let iis enquire what is meant by the coming of
Christ in my i^xi.
The coming of Christ, in some of these parables, may
have reference to his speedy appearance in the course
of his providence in that very , age, to judge and punish
the Jewish nation, to destroy tlieir city, and put an end
to their church and state, for their many heinous iniqui-
ties, and the most provoking crime of rejecting and cru-
cifying the Son of God. But these words, in their su-
preme and most important sense, always point to the
glorious appearance of Christ at the last day, when he
shall come to shut up all the scenes of this frail life, to
put an end to the present world, to finish all the works of
this mortal state, and to decide and determine the eternal
states of all mankind by the general judgment.
Yet Christ comes to each of us in >he hour of death
also, for he hath the keys of death and of hell, or of the
invisible world ; Rev. i. 18. It is he who appoints the
very moment when the soul shall be dismissed from
this flesh, he opens the doors of the grave for the dying
body ; and he is Lord of the world of spirits, and lets
in new inhabitants every minute into those unseen re-
gions of immortal sorrow, or immortal peace.
And as Christ may be said to come to us by the mes-
sage or summons of death, so the many solemn writings
and commands of watchfulness, which attend these par-
ables of Christ, have been usually, and with good rea-
son, applied to the hour of death also, for then the Lord
comes to shut up the scene of each of our lives, our works
are then finished, our last day is come, and the world is
then at an end with us.
Let it be observed also, that there is a further paral-
lel between the day of the general judgment^ and that
100 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN
of our own death. The one will as certainly come as
the other, but the time when Christ will come in either
of these senses, is unknown to us and uncertain. And
it is this, which renders the duty of perpetual watchful-
ness so necessary to all men. The parable assures us,
that our Lord will certainly come, but whether at the
second or third watch, whether at midnight, or at cock-
crowing, or near the morning, this is all uncertainty ;
yet whensoever he comes, he expects we should have
our loins girded, like servants fit for business, and our
lamps burning, to attend him at the door ; and that we
be ready to receive him as soon as he knocks.
Were the appointed hour oi judgment, or of death, made
known to us for months or years before-hand, we should
be ready to think constant watch fulness a very needless
thing. Mankind would persuade themselves to indulge
their foolish and sinful slumbers, and only take care to
rub their eyes a little, and bestir themselves an hour or
two before this awful event. But it is the suddenness
and uncertainty of the coming of Christ to all mankind,
for either of these purposes, that extends the charge of
watchfulness to all men as well as to the apostles, Mark
xiii. 37 ; and that calls upon us aloud to keep our souls
ever awake, lest (as our Lord there expresses it,) com-
ing suddenly he should find us sleeping. And remem-
ber this, that if we are unprepared to meet the Lord at
death, we can never be ready when he comes to judg-
ment. Peace and blessedness attend the watchful
Christian, whensoever his Lord cometh. Blessed is
that servant, ichom, when his Lord comes he shall find
watching. This leads me to the second general head.
Secondly, What is implied in watchfulness.
Jlnswer. In general, it is opposed to sleeping as I
have already hinted, in Mark xiii. 35, 36. And in the
language of scripture, as well as in common speech, sleep
and slumbering, denote an unpreparedness to receive
DYING IN PEACE, IQI
whatever comes, for this is the case with those who are
asleep. On the other hand, watchfulness is a prepara-
tion and readiness for every event, and so it is express-
ed in some of these parables^ ver. 40. Be ye therefore
ready. But to enter into a few particulars.
1. There is a sleep of death, Psal. xiii. 3. Spiritual
death as well as natural, is sometimes called a sleep.
Such is the case of a soul dead in trespasses and sins,
Eph. V. 14, compared with ii. 1. "Awake thou that
sleepest and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee light.'^
Watchfulness therefore implies life, a principle of
spiritual life in the soul. Surely those who are dead in
sins are not prepared to receive their Lord ; he is a
perfect stranger to them, they know him not, they love
him not, they obey him not ; and a terrible stranger he
will be^ if he comes upon them before they are awake.
But those who are awakened by divine grace into a
spiritual life, have seen something of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ, they are acquainted with
their Lord, they love him, and have some degree of
preparation to meet their Saviour when he summons
them to leave this world. This is therefore a matter of
highest consequence, that we awake from a state of sin
and death, that we be made alive to God, begin the
christian life, and set upon religion in good earnest, ac-
cording to the rules of the gospel, before Christ calls us
away. It is only this divine life begun in us, that can
secure us from eternal death ; tJiough even Christians
may be found slumbering in other respects, and expose
themselves to painful evils, if that hour surprise them
at unawares.
2. There is a sleep of indolence and thoughtlessness ;
when a man is insensible of his own circumstances, and
too careless of the things which most concern him, and
we say, the man is asleep. Such a sleep seems to be
103 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN
upon the cimrch of Israel, Isa. xxix. 10 ; a sjiirit of deep
sleep, when the Jaw which contained the great tilings of
God, and their salvation, was to them as a sealed hook,
they read it not, their eyes were closed, their spiritual
senses were bound up. Many a christian who hath
been raised from a death in sin, has been seized with
this criminal slumber, and has had the image of death
come again upon him. He has grown too careless and
unconcerned about his most important and eternal af-
fairs ; and in this temper he hardly knows what his
state is toward God, nor keeps up a lively sense or no-
tice of divine and eternal things upon his spirit.
Watchfulness in opposition to this sleep, implies a
holy solicitude and diligence, to know our own spiritual
state ; a consciousness of what we are ; a keeping all
the spiritual senses in proper exercise, and maintaining
a lively perception of divine things. It implies an
cute, painful sense of indwelling sin, and the irregular
propensities of the heart, a delightful relish of heavenly
objects, frequent thoughts of death and eternity, constant
waiting for those awful events, with a quick apprehen-
sion and resentment of all things, that help or hinder
the spiritual life. This is the character of a wakeful
christian, and such an one as is ready to receive his
returning Lord.
3. There is a sleep of security and foolish jieace, when
a person is not apprehensive of imminent danger, and is
much unguarded against it. Such was the sleep of Jo-
nah in the storm, of Sampson on the lap of Delilah,
when the Phillistines were upon him, and of the disci-
ples when Judas and the band of soldiers were just
ready to seize their master. This is the case of many
a slumbering christian ; he is not upon his guard against
his inward lusts and passions, nor against those outward
temptations and perils to which he is continually ex-
posed, while he dwells in flesh and blood.
DYING IN PEAOE. 103
Watchfulness in this respect is, when a christian hath
his eyes open, and turns them round on every side to
foresee approaching evil, and prevent it ; when he is
prepared for every assault of every adversary, whether
sin or the world, whether death or the devil ; he hath
liis spiritual armour girt upon him, and is ready for the
combat. He is every hour guarded against the powers
of the flesh, and watching against its allurements and
attractions, lest he be defiled thereby, and unfit to meet
his returning Lord. He is daily loosening his heart
from all sensual attachments, and weaning himself from
the world and creatures, because he knows he must
quickly take his long fjirewell, and part with them all,
at the call and appointment of his great Master. He is
like a ceutinel upon his watch tower, ever awake, be-
cause dangers stand thick around him.
4, There is a sleep of sloth and inactivity ; Prov. xix.
15. Slothfalness cast into a deep sleep. A little more
sleep, a little more slumber, saith the lazy christian, who
turns upon his bed, as the door upon its hinges,VLnd makes
no progress or advance in his way to heaven. We are
sleepy christians when we do little for God, or our own
souls, in comparison of the vast work, and important
varieties of duty that lie upon us. When our zeal is
cold, and our eiforts of service slight and feeble ; when
the light of grace shines so dim, and the spark of holi-
ness is so covered with ashes, that it is hard to say
whether it burn or no. As in natural things, so in
spiritual. It is a difficult matter sometimes to distin-
guish between a dead man, and a lethargic sleeper.
Watchfulness in opposition to this slumber, is a lively
and vigorous exercise of every grace, and a diligent at-
tendance on every duty, both toward God and man ; a
constant converse with heaven by daily devotion ; an
active zeal for God in the world ; a steady faith in the
promises ; a joyful hope of heavenly blessedness ; a
104 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN
longing expectation of the returning Saviour, which
makes the soul stretch out the wings of desire and joy,
as though it were going forth to meet him. This is the
meaningof the apostle Peter's expression ; 2 Pet. iii. 12;
Looking for, and hastening to the coming of the darj of
God.
Put all these things together now, and they make up
the character of a watchful christian. He is awake
from the sleep of death, and made spiritually alive ; he
hath the work of vital religion begun in liis heart.
He is awake from the sleep of thoughtlessness and
indolence ; he is solicitous to know his own state, and
hath good hope through grace ; he lives in the view of
heavenly things, and keeps his eye open to future and
eternal glories.
He is awake from the sleep of security, he is upon his
guard against every danger, and ready to receive every
alarm.
He is awake from the sleep of slothfulness, and is
active in the pursuit of the glory of his God, and his own
eternal interest, and still jiressing toward the mark to
obtain the prize. This is the soul that is ready to meet
a returning saviour, and to receive liis Lord when he
I comes, either at the hour of death, or to the general
I judgment.
I Thirdly, Let me propose some special considerations
whicli discover the blessedness of the icatchful christian
at the hour of death.
1. Consid. That moment dispossesses us of every
I enjoyment of flesh and blood, and divides us from the
' commerce of this visible world ; but the wakeful chris-
tian is happy, for he is ready to be thus divided and dis-
I possessed. Death breaks the band at once between us,
I and all the sensible things round about us, by dissolving
the frame of this body, which had united us to them ;
and the watchful saint is content to have that bond bro-
DYING IN PEACE. 10 j
keii, these unions dissolved. His heart and soul are not
torn away from the dear delights of this mortal state
with that pain, anguish and horror, that attends the sin-
ner when death summons him oiF the stage, and divides
him from his fleshly idols. The christian hath been
untying his heart by degrees from the dearest de-
lights of sense, and disengaging it from all that is not
immortal ; with holy pleasure he can bid farewell to
sun, moon and stars, and to all things which their light
can shew him, for lie is going to a world where the Sun
of righteousness ever shines in unclouded glory, and
discovers such sights, as are infinitely superior to all
that the eyes of flesh can behold ; he can part with
friends and kindred with a composed spirit, for he is
going to meet better friends and diviner kindred, as we
shall shew immediately. He can leave his dying flesh
behind liim, and commit it to the dust, in joyful hope of
the great rising day ; and lie hath a better mansion at
present provided for him on high, in his Father's house,
while he lives far separate from all earthly dwellings.
2 Cor. V. 1 ; " We know that if this earthly house of
our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God,
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
2, Consid. The moment of death finishes our state of
trial, and fixes us unchangeably in the state of sin or holi-
ness, in which we are tlien found. And blessed is the
icatchfid christian, for he is prepared to have his trial
thus ended, and his state thusjixed and made unchangea-
ble. As the tree falls, so it lies ; Eccles. xi. 10 ; tvhether
to the north, or the south. As the soul parts from the
body, so it remains, whether fitted for heaven or hell.
It is therefore a matter of tlie last importance, to be pre-
pared and ready for such an eternal sentence, and un-
changeable determination. Were any of us to be
sui-prized some moment this day, and forced to continue
all our lives in that very posture of body, in which we
14 '
106 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN
are then founds should we not be awake, and keep our-
selves in the most natural and easy gestures all that day,
lest we he seized at once, and fixed in some distorted,
painfulj and uneasy situation, all our months and years
to come ? Or if we were to be bound down to one sin-
gle thought or passion, all the remnant of our life, in
which we were found in any uncertain minute in this
hour, should we not watch with utmost care, and guard
against every unpleasing thought, and every fretful and
vexing passion, lest it should be fixed upon us till we die ?
Now this is the case at death : the Almighty voice of
God then pronounces, he that is unclean and unholy
must for ever be unholy and unclean^ but he that is
righteous let him be righteous stilly and he that is holy
shall be for ever holy ; Rev. xxii. 11. I will not pre-
cisely determine that this is the sense of that text ; yet
since the apostle speaks there concerning the coming of
Christ, it may be very applicable to the present case.
Now how dreadful soever this thought is to a guilty, sin-
ful creature, it is no terror to a wakeful christian. He is
ready to have these words pronounced from heaven, for
they will establish him in eternal holiness and eternal
peace. He hath endeavoured to secure to himself an
interest in the love of God, through the faith and love of
Jesus the blessed Mediator, and at death he is fixed for
ever in their love. He hath loved God in time, and in
this visible world, and there is nothing in all the unseen
worlds, nothing through all the ages of eternity, sball
ever separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
The moment of death liath fixed him for ever a holy and
beloved soul, beyond the power of creatures to change
liis temper, or his state. This is the blessedness of tlie
watchful christian.
3. Consid. Death sets us in a more immediate and
sensible manner in the presence of God, a glorious and
holy God, God the Judge of all : and blessed is the
DYING IN PEACE. 107
watchful christian^ for he is willing to stand before this
God, to he brought into his 'presence. This is what he
hath longed and prayed for, to he for ever with God.
It is the blessedness that he hath sought with incessant
labors and tears, with holy diligence, and daily devotidn^
and blessed is the pure in heart, who hath watched
against the pollutions of the world, /or he shall see God,
Matt. V. 8.
It is certain, that when the soul departs from the body,
it returns to God who gave it, Eccles. xii. 7- And pro-
bably to God as a Judge too. Heb. ix. 27- *3fter death
judgment. There is some sort of determination of the
state of each single person at death, before the great and
general judgment-day, because that day is appointed
rather for the public vindication of the equity of God in
his distribution of rewards and punishments, and is par-
ticularly put into the hands of our Lord Jesus. Now,
since the separate soul returns to God who gave it, it is
of vast importance that we be then prepared to come
before him. •
Some of us here would be mightily afraid of appearing
before a prince, or a great and honorable person in an
undress ; but for our souls in a naked state, or in a gar-
ment of sinful pollution, to be surprized by the great and
holy God, to be set on a sudden in his presence, what
terror is contained in this thought ! Now the watchful
christian hath this blessedness, that he is washed from
his defilements in the blood of the Lamb, '^ he is clothed
with the robe of righteousness, and the garments of sal-
vation;" Isa. Ixi. 10. He is prepared to appear before
a God of infinite holiness without terror, for he is made
like him, he bears his image, he appears as one of his
children, and he is not afraid to see his Father.
However some commentators may confine and impov-
erish the sense of David in the end of the seventeenth
Psalm, yet I am persuaded the spirit of God in him de-
108 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN
signed to express liis faitli and joy, either at the hour of
death, or in the morning of the resurrection, " I shall
behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness." When the Psalmist
had described what were the satisfactions of the men of
this world in death, ver. 14, viz. that they had filled
their houses with children, and and leave their substance
or riches to them, lie then declares what was his support
and hope in his dying lioui* ; Jlsfor me, saith he, I have
other views ; I am not afraid, O my God, to appear be-
fore thee in the other world, for I shall see thy face, not
as a criminal, but as a person approved and accepted,
and righteous in thy sight ; I shall awake from this world
of dreams and shadows, into thy complete image and
perfect holiness , or I shall awake from the dust of
death, and shall be fully satisfied ; and rejoice to find
myself made so like my God, and to dwell for ever in
his presence.
4. Consid. It is the Lord Jesus Christ that lets the
soul out of the body, for he "^ hath the keys of death, and
of the unseen world, and blessed is the watchful chris-
tian, who waits for the coming of his Lord, for he can
meet him gladly, w hen fulfilling this part of liis glorious
office." He shall be introduced by him into the presence
of God his Father, and shall receive most condescending
instances of mercy from Christ himself. See the text,
Luke xii. 36, 37. '' Be ye yourselves like men that
wait for the Lord, that when he cometh and knocketh,
ye may open to him immediately. Blessed are those
servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find
watching : Verily I say to you, he shall gird himself,
and make them sit down to meat, and come forth and
serve them." He shall condescend, as it were, even be-
low the office of a steward, he shall bring out the heav-
enly provisions of his Father's house, and make them
sit down in liis kingdom, and give them divine refresh-
DYING IN PEACE. 109
ments after their labors ; he shall feed them as a shep-
herd, shall lead them to living fountains of waters, and
afford them his presence for ever.
The watchful christian is blessed indeed, when he
shall be absent from the body, and be at once present with
the Lord, 2 Cor. v. 8. The Lord Jesus whom he hath
seen by faith in his gospel, whose voice he hath lieard
in his word, and obeyed it ; Jesus, whom he hath touch-
ed and tasted in the appointed emblems of his supper on
earth, in whom he hath believed through the word of
grace, and whom he hath loved before he saw him, shall
now receive him into his presence, and the disciple shall
rejoice for ever to meet his Lord, with joy unspeakable
and full of glory.
5. Consid. At the hour of death we are sent at once
into an invisible world ; we shall find ourselves in the
midst of holy or of unclean spirits ; borne away at once
into an unknown region, and into tlie midst of unknown
inhabitants, the nations of the saved, or the crowds of
damned souls ; and blessed is the watchful christian, for
he is ready to enter into the unseen regions .-he knows
he shall not be placed among those whose company and
whose character he never loved here on earth : his soul
shall not be gathered with sinners, nor his dwelling be
tcith the workers of iniquity, but witli the saints, the ex-
cellent in the earth, in whom was all his delight. Every
one when dismissed from the prison of this body, must
go as the apostles did, when released from the prison at
Jeinisalem, must go to their own company, Acts iv. S3.
Judas the traitor went to his own place. Acts i. %5. And
the watchful christian will be disposed among spirits of
the just made perfect, he will find himself in that blessed
society, at his dismission from flesh and blood. Bead
and see what a glorious society it is, Heb. xii. S3, S3 ;
To the innumerable company of angels, the general as-
sembly and church of the first-born^ ivho are written in
110 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN
heaven^ to God the Judge of all, and to the sjririts of just
men made perfect, and Jesus the Mediator of the new
covenant. The apostle says, we are come to them,
already, that is, by the covenant of grace, as administered
under the gospel ; we are bronght into a blessed union
with them, in spirit and in temper, even in this life ; we
are members of the same body ; we are united to the
same head, and made parts of the same household,
though we are not yet brought home. But at death we
are actually present with them, and dwell and converse
among them with holy familiarity, as citizens of the same
heavenly Jerusalem, as parts of the same sacred family,
and at home, as children of the same God, and in their
Father's house. The watchful christian is at once car-
ried into the midst of the blessed world by ministering
angels, the world where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
dwell, and made a speedy partaker of their blessedness ;
Luke xvi. 2S.
6. Consid. Death brings with it a most amazing and
inconceivable change of all our present circumstances
and thoughts, our actions and pursuits, our sensations and
enjoyments. I mean all those that relate to this life
only ; such as eating, drinking, buying, selling, &c. It
dislodges us from these bodies, and thereby finishes all
those affections, concerns and troubles, which belong to
the body, and sends us into another sort of world, whose
affairs and concerns are such only as belong to spirits,
whether sinful or holy. A most delightful, or a most
dreadful change ! A world of unknown sorrows, or
unknown happiness / Luke xxiii. 43 ; '^ This day slialt
thou be with me in paradise." liuke xvi. 22 ; " The
rich man died, and in hell he lift up his eyes." And
indeed the change is so vast, that, comparatively s])eak-
ing, we know not what sorrow, or happiness is, till this
day comes. Now it is a very foolisli and dangerous
thing at best, to pass into such an extreme clian^^^e of
DYING IN PEACE. Ill
states, infinitely worse, or infinitely better, while we are
asleep, and at all uncertainties. What if it should be
the miserable state, and we should awake in hell ? But
the watchful christian is blessed^for he is ready for this
amazing change. He hath long lived upon it by faith
and hope ; though he knows not so well what the par-
ticular enjoyments of heaven are : and he is well satis-
fied that he is prepared for that happy world by God
himself. 2 Cor. v. 5 ; He that hath wrought us for the
self -same thing is God. He is well pleased to have his
faith changed into sight, and his hope into fruition. He
hath been long pained and burdened in this sinful world,
with the vain trifies, the poor, low cares and amusements
of it. The sins, sorrows and temptations that surround
him in it, give him continual disquietudes ; and he hath
been training up in the school of Cln-ist, by devotion and
good works, for those higher services of heaven. Since
he can trust the promises of the gospel, and has had
some small foretaste of these pleasures ; he knows that
the actions and employments, the business and joys of
the upper world, are incomparably superior to any thing
here on earth, and free from all the uneasy and defiling
circumstances of this life. He is awake to receive this
change ; he rejoices in his removal from world to world.
His vital and active powers are ready for the business of
paradise, and he opens his heart to take in the joy.
7. Consid. Death makes its approaches often times,
and seizes us in such a manner, as to give no room for
prayers or repentance ; then the blessedness of the ivatch-
ful soul appears f that if he is carried out of the world
and time, in such a surprising ivay, he is safe for
eternity.
Sometimes the messenger of death stops all our
thouglits aud actions at once, by a lethargic stroke, or
confounds them all, by ihe delirious rovings of a fever.
The light of reason is eclipsed and darkened, the powers
US THE WA'ICHFUL CHRISTIAN
of the mind are all obstructed, or the laiiguishings of na-
ture have so enfeebled tliem, that either we cannot exer-
cise tiiem to any spiritual purposes ; or we are forbid to
do it, for fear of counterworking the physician, increasing
the malady, and hastening our death. Thus we are not
capable of making any new preparation for the important
work of dying : we can make use of none of the means
of grace, nor do any thing more to secure an interest in
the love of God, the salvation of Christ, and the blessings
of heaven.
This is a very dismal thought indeed. But the
watchful christian hath this blessedness, that he is fit to
receive the sentence of death in any form. Nor lethar-
gies, nor deliriums, nor languors of nature, can destroy
the seed of grace and religion in the heart, wliich were
sown there in the days of health. Nor can any of the
formidable attendants of death, cancel his former trans-
actions with God and Christ, about his immortal con-
cerns. That great and momentous work was done before
death appeared, or any of its attendants. He was not
so unwise, as to leave matters of infinite importance at
that dreadful hazard. He is not now to begin to seek
after a lost God, nor to begin his repentance for past sins.
He is not now a stranger at the throne of grace, nor be-
ginning to learn to pray. He is not now commencing
liis acquaintance with Jesus Christ his Saviour, in the
midst of a tumult and hurry of thoughts and fears ; nor
are the works of faith, and love, and holiness, to be noAv
begun. Dreadful work indeed,' and infinitely hazardous !
to begin to ])e convinced of sin on the borders of death,
and to make our first enquiries after God and hea,ven,
jipon the very brink of hell ! to begin to ask for pardon,
when we can live in sin no longer ! to cry out, Jesus,
save me, when tiie waves of the wrath of God are break-
ing in upon the drowning soul ! Hopeless condition and
extreme wretchedness ! to have all the hard work of
DYING IN PEACE. 113
conversion to go through, under the sinkings of feeble
nature, and to begin the exercises of virtue and godli-
ness, under the wild disorders of reason ! What a
madness is it, to leave our infinite concerns at such a
horrible uncertainty !
But these are not thy circumstances, O wakeful
christian : nor was this the case of our young departed
friend ; though her distemper soon discomposed her
reasoning powers, and gave her very little opportunity
to make a present preparation for dying. But she had
heard the voice of Christ in his gospel betimes, and
awoke to righteousness at his call, that she might be
always ready for his summons in death. Religion was
her early care. A fear to offend God, possessed and
governed her thoughts and actions from her childhood ;
and heavenly things were her youthful choice. She
had appeared for some years, in the public profession
of Christianity, and maintained the practice of godliness
in the church, and the world ; but it began much more
early in secret. Her beloved closet, and her retiring
hours, were silent witnesses of her daily converse with
God and her Saviour. There she devoted her soul to
her Creator betimes, according to the encouragements
and rules of the gospel of Christ ; and there she found
peace and salvation. It was there she made a consci-
entious recollection of the sermons she heard in public,
from her tender years, and left behind her these fruits
of her memory, and her pen to attest what improvements
she gained in knowledge, by the ministrations of the
word : and her cabinet has now discovered to us, another
set of memoirs, wherein she continually observed what
advances she might make in real piety, by those weekly
seasons of grace.
It was under these influences she maintained a most
dutiful and affectionate behavior to her honored par-
ents, and with filial fondness mingled with esteem, sub-
15
114 THE WATCpPtTL CHRISTIAN
mission and reverence paid her constant regards to the
lady her mother, in her widowed estate. It was by the
united principles of grace and nature, she lived with her
younger sisters in uncommon harmony and friendship,
as though one heart and soul animated them all. It
was under these influences, she ever stood upon her
guard, amongst all the innocent freedoms of life, and
though she did not immure herself, in the walls of a
mothers house, but indulged a just curiosity to learn
some of the forms of the world, the magnificence of
courts, and the grandeurs of life, yet she knew how far
to appear among them, and when to retire. Nor did
she forbid herself all the polite diversions of youth,
agreeable to her rank ; nor did reason or religion, or
her superior relatives forbid her ; yet she was still
awake to secure all that belongs to honor and virtue,
nor did she use to venture to the utmost bounds, of
what sobriety and religion might allow. Danger of
guilt stands near the extreme limits of innocence.
Shall I let this paper inform the world, with what
friendly decency, she treated her young companions and
acquaintance, how far from indulging the modish liber-
ties of scandal on the absent, how mucli she hated those
scornful and derisive airs, which persons on higher
ground, too often assume toward those who are seated
in the inferior ranks of life ? Is it proper I should say,
how much her behavior won upon the esteem of all
tliat knew her, though I could appeal to the general sor-
row at her deatli, to confirm the truth of it ? But who
can forbear on this occasion, to take notice, how far she
acquired that lovely character in her narrow and pri-
vate spliere, which seems almost to have been derived to
lier by inlieritance, from her honored father, deceased,
who had the tears of his country long dropping upon
his tomb, and whose memory yet lives in a thousand
hearts ?
DYING IN PEACE. ^15-
8iich a conversation and such a cliaracter, made up
of piety and virtue, were prepared for the attacks of a
fever, with malignant and mortal symptoms. Slow and
unsuspected were the advances of the disease, till the
powers of reason began to faulter and retire, till the
heralds of death had made their appearance, and spread
on her bosom, their purple ensigns. When these dis-
orders began, her lucid intervals were longer, and while
she thought no person was near, she could address her-
self to God, and say, how often she had given herself
to him ; she hoped she had done it sincerely, and found
acceptance with him, and trusted that she was not de-
ceived. The gleams of reason that broke in between
the clouds, gave her light enough to discern her own
evidencs of piety, and refresh her liope. Then she re-
peated some of the last verses of the i39th Psalm in
metre, viz.
Lord, search my sOul, tsy every thought :
Tho' my own heart accuse me not,
Of walking in a false disguise,
1 beg the trial of thine eyes.
Doth secret mischief lurk within ?
Do I indulge some unknown sin !
O turn my feet whene'er I stray.
And lead rae in thy perfect way.
She was frequent and importunate in her requests for
the Psalm-book, that she might read that Psalm, or at
least have it read to her throughout; and it was with some
difficulty, we persuaded her to be composed in silence ;
thus sincerely willing was slie, that God might search
and try her heart, still hoping well concerning her spirit-
ual state, yet still solicitous about the assurance of her
own sincerity, in her former transactions with heaven.
The next day among the roving of her thoughts, she
rehearsed all those verses of the 17th Psalm, which are
116 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN
paraphased in the same book, with Tery little faltering
in a line or two :
Lord I am thine ; but thou wilt prove
My faith, my patience, and my love, &c'
The traces of her thoughts under this confusion of ani-
mal nature, retained something in them divine and heav-
enly.
O blessed situation of soul, when we stand prepared
for death, though it come with the formidable retinue of
a disordered brain, and clouded reason ! It would be
too long at present to represent to you the sad conse-
quences of being found asleep when Christ comes to call
us away from this world ,* I shall therefore only make
these three reflections.
Reflection 1. JVone can oegin too early to awalce to
righteousness, and iirejmre for the call of Christ, since
no one is too young to be sent for by his messenger of
death. I do not here speak of the state of infancy, when
persons can hardly be said to be in u personal state of
trial. But when I say, 7ione can awake too early to
mind the things of religion, I mean, after reason begins
its proper exercise, and this appears sometimes in early
childhood. All our life in tliis world, compared with
heaven, is a sort of night and season of darkness ; and if
our Lord summon us away in the first watch of the nighty
in the midst of youth and vigor, and the pleasing al-
lurements of flesh and sense, we are in a deplorable state
if we are found sleeping, and hurried away from earth,
into the invisible world, in the midst of our foolish
dreams of golden vanity. Dreadful indeed, to have a
young tlioughtless creature carried off the stage, sleep-
ing and dead in trespasses and sins ! Let those that are
drunk w ith wine fall asleep upon the top of a mast in
the middle of the sea, where the winds and the waves
are tossing and roaring all around them j let a mad-
DYING IN PEACE. 117
man who has lost his reason, lie down to sleep upon the
edge of a precipice, where a pit of fire and brimstone is
burning beneath him, and ready to receive his fall ; but
let not young sinners, whose rational powers are in ex-
ercise, and whose life is every moment a mere uncer-
tainty, venture to go on in their dangerous slumbers,
while the wrath of a God and eternal misery attend
them, if they die before they are awake.
It is granted that no power beneath that which is di-
vine, can effectually quicken a dead soul, and awaken
it into a divine life. It is the work of God to quicken the
dead, Rom. iv. 17; Eph. ii. 5. It is the Son of God who
is the light and life of the word, John i. 4. To whom the
Father hath given this quickening power, John vi. 2Q.
He calls sinners to awaken them from tlieir deadly sleep,
Eph. V. 14. And they live by him, as he lives by the
Father, John vi. 57- He awakens dead souls to life,
by the same living spirit, which shall quicken their mor-
tal bodies, and raise them from the grave ; Rom. viii. 9,
11, 13 ; 2 Cor. iii. 3 ; which spirit he hafli received from.
the Father, John iii. 34. And on this account we are
to seek the vital influences of this grace from heaven,
by constant and importunate prayer. Yet in my text,
as well as in other scriptures, awaking out of sleep, and
watching unto righteousness, is represented as our duty,
and we are to exert all our uatural powers with holy
fervency, for this end, while our daily petitions draw
down from heaven the promised aid of grace. Our dili-
gence in duty, and our dependance on the divine power
and mercy, are happily and effectually joined in the
command of our Saviour, on this very occasion, in one
of his parables, Mark xiii. 33. " Watch and pray, for
ye know not when the time is that the Lord will come."
And again. Chap. xiv. 38. " Watch and pray that ye
enter not into temptation." Trust not in your own
strength and sufficiency for the glorious change to be
118 THE WATCHFUL CHIftSTlAN
wrought ill your sinful hearts, and yet neglect not your
own labors and restless endeavors under a pretence,
tbat it is God's work, and not yours. Awake tliou that
steepest^ and arise from the deadj and Christ shall give
thee light.
Nor should frail dying creatures in their youngest
years, delay this work, one day, nor one hour, since the
consequences of being found asleep when Christ calls,
are terrible indeed. We are beset with mortality all
around us ; the seeds of disease and dissolution are
working within us from our very birth and cradle, ever
since sin entered into our natures ; and we should ever
be in a readiness to remove hence, since we are never
secure from the summons of heaven, the stroke of death,
and the demands of the grave.
There was a lovely boy, the son of the Shunamite,
who was given to liis mother in a miraculous way, and
and when he was in the field among the reapers, he cried
out, my head, my head; he was carried home immedi-
ately, and in a few hours died in his mother's bosom,
2 Kings iv. 18. Who would have imagined that head-
ache should have been death, and that in so short a time
too ? This is almost the case which we lament at pre-
sent ; the head -ache was sent but a few days before, nor
was the pain very intense, nor the appearance danger-
-ous, yet it became the fatal, though unexpected fore-
runner of death.
This providence is an awful warning piece to all her
young acquaintance, to be ready for a sudden removal ;
for she was of a healthy make, and seemed to stand at
as great distance from the gates of death as any of you.
But the firmest constitution of human nature is born with
death in it. From every age, and every spot of ground,
and every moment of time, there are short and sudden
ways of descent to the grave. Trap doors (if I may
use so low a metaphor) are always under us, and a
DYING IN PEACE, 119
thousand unseen avenues to the regions of the dead.
A malignant fever strikes the strongest nature with a
mortal blast, at the command of the great Author and
Disposer of life. My youngest hearers may be called
away from the earth, by the next pain that seizes them.
Nothing but religion, early religion, and sincere godli-
ness, can give you hope in youthful death, or leave a
fragrant savor on your name or memory among those
that survive.
Reflection 2. If such blessedness as I* have described,
belong to every watchful christian at the hour of death,
then it may not be improper here to take notice of some
peculiar advantages which attend those who shake off
the deadly sleep of sin in their younger years, and are
awake early to God and religion.
1. They have much fewer sins to mourn over on a
death-bed, and they prevent much bitter repentance for
youthful iniquities. Holy Job was a man of distinguish-
ed piety, and God himself pronounces of him, that the7^e
was none like him in all the earth. Job i. 28. Bui, it is
a question whether his most early days were devoted to
Grod, and whether he was so watchful over his beha-
vior, in that dangerous season of life, for he makes a
heavy complaint in his addresses to God, Job xiii. 26.
^^ Thou writest bitter things against me, and raakest me
to possess the iniquities of my youth." The sooner we
begin to be awake to holiness, the more of these follies
and sorrows are prevented. Happy those who have the
fewest of them, to imbitter their following lives, or make
a death-bed painful !
2. Young persons have fewer attachments to the
world, and the persons and things of it, which are round
about them, and are more ready to part wifcli it when
their souls are united to God by an early faith and love.-
They have not yet entered into so numerous engage-
ments of life, nor dwelt long enough here to have their
1;20 THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN
liearts grown so fast on to creatures, wliich usually
makes the parting stroke so full of anguish and smart-
iug sorrow. A child can much more easily ascend to
heaven, and leave a parent behind, without that tender
and painful solicitude, which a dying, parent has for the
welfare of a surviving child. The surrender of all mor-
tal interests at the call of God, is much more easy when
our souls are not tied to them by so many strings, nor
united by so many of the softer endearments of nature,
and where grace has taught us to practise an early
weaning from all temporal comforts, and a little loosen-
ed our hearts from them, by the faith of things eternal.
3. Those that have been awake betimes to godli-
ness, give peculiar honours to the gospel at death, and
leave this testimony to the divine religion of Jesus, that
it was able to subdue passion and appetite in that season
of life, when they are usually strongest and most unruly.
They give peculiar credit and glory to the christian name
and the gospel, which has gained them so many victo-
ries over the enemies of their salvation, at that age
wherein multitudes are the captives of sin, and slaves to
folly and vanity.
-t. Those christians who are awake to God in their
early years, leave more happy and powerful examples
of living and dying, to their young companions and ac-
quaintance. It is the temper of every age of life, to be
more influenced and affected by the practice of persons
of the same years. Sin has fewer excuses to make, in
order to shield itself from the reproof of such examples,
who have renounced it betimes ; and virtue carries with
it a more effectual motive to persuade young sinners to
piety and goodness, when it can point to its votaries of
the same age, and in the same circumstances of life.
*• Why may not this be practised by you, as well as by
your companions round about you, of the same age ?"
But I must hasten the last reflection.
DYING IN PEACE. 1^1
Reflection 3. When we mourn the death of friends
who were prepared for an early summons, let their
preparation be our support. Blessed be God^ they
were not found sleeping! While we drop our tears
upon tlie grave of any young christian who was awake
and alive to God, that blessedness which Christ him-
self pronounces upon them, is a sweet cordial to mingle
with our bitter sorrows, and will greatly assist to dry up
the spring of them. The idea of their piety, and their
approbation in the sight of God, is a balm to heal the
wound, and give present ease to the heart-ache.
We are ready to run over their virtues, and spread
abroad their amiable qualities in our thoughts, and then
with seeming reason, we give a loose to the mournful
passion ; whereas all these, when set in a true liglit^
are real ingredients towards our relief.
We lament the loss of our departed friend, when we
review that capacious and uncommon power of memory,
which the God of nature had given her, and which was
so well furnished with a variety of humane and divine
knowledge, and was stored with a rich treasure of the
word of God, so that if providence had called her into
a more public appearance, she might have stood up in the
world as a burning and shining light, so far as her sex
and station required. This furniture of the mind seems
indeed to be lost in death, and buried in the grave ; but
we give in too much to the judgment of sense ; did not
this extensive knowledge lay a foundation for her early
piety ? And did it not, by this means, prepare her for a
more speedy removal to a higher school of improvement^
and a world of sublimer devotion ? And does she not
Bhine there among the better and brighter company ?
We mourn again for our loss of a person so valuable,
when we think of that general calmness, and sedateness
of soul, which she possessed in a peculiar degree, so
that she was not greatly elevated or depressed, by cora-
10
ISS THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN
mon accidents or occurrences ; but this secured her from
the rise of unruly passions, those stormy powers of na-
ture, which sometimes sink us into guilt and distress,
and make us unwilling and afraid of tlie sudden sum-
mons of Christ, lest he should find us under these dis-
orders.
We think of her firmness of spirit, and that steady
resolution, whicii, joined with a natural reserve, was a
happy guard against many of the forward follies and
dangers of youth, and proved a successful defence
against some of the allurements and temptations of the
gayer years of life. And then we mourn afresh, that a
person so well formed for growing prudence and virtue,
should be so suddenly snatched away from amongst us.
But this steady and dispassionate frame of soul, well
improved by religion and divine grace, became an eflTec-
tual means to preserve her youth more unblemished,
and made her spirit fitter for the heavenly world, where
nothing can enter that is defiled, and whose delights are
not tumultuous as ours are on earth ; but all is a calm
and rational state of joy.
We lament yet further, when we think of her native
goodness and unwillingness to displease. But goodness
is the very temper of that region to which she is gone :
and she is the fitter companion for the inhabitants of a
world of love.
We lament that such a pattern of early piety should
be taken from the earth, when there are so few prac-
tisers of it ; especially among the youth of our degen-
erate age, and in plentiful circumstances of life. But it
is a matter of high tliankfulness to God, who endowed
her with tliose valuable qualities, and trained licr up so
soon for a world so much better than ours is. Let our
borrow for the deceased be changed into devout praises
to divine grace. Let us imitate the holy language of
St. Paul to the Thessalouians, and say, ive are cpwforted
SURPRISE IN DEATH. 123
eveu at her grave, in all our affliction and distress, hy the
remembrance of her faith and piety. What sufficient
thanks can ice render unto God, upon her accou7it, for
all the joy wherewith we rejoice for lier sake, before our
God, night and day, praying exceedingly that we may
see her fice in the state of perfection. And may God
himself, even our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
direct our way to the happy world where she dwells ;
1 Thess. iii. 7? &c. The imitation of what was excel-
lent in her life, and watchful readiness to follow her in
death, are the best honors we can pay her memory, and
the wisest improvement of the present providence. May
the spirit of grace teach us these lessons, and make us
all learn them with power, that when our Lord Jesus
shall come to call us hence by death, or shall appear
with all his saints, in the great rising day, we may be
found among his wakeful servants, and partake of the
promised blessedness ! Amen.
DISCOURSE III,
SURPRISE IN DEATH.
MARK xiii. 36.
Watch ye therefore, lest coming suddenly, he Jind you-
sleeping.
AMONG the parables of our Saviour, there arc
several recorded by the evangelists, which represent
him as a Prince, or Lord and Master of a family, de.
parting for a season from his servants, and in his absence
1S4 SURPRISE IN DEATH.
appointing them their proper work, with a solemn charge
to wait for his return ; at which time he foretold them,
that he should require an account of their behavior in
his absence ; and he either intimates or expresses a
severe treatment of those who should neglect their duty
while he was gone, or make no preparation for his ap-
pearance. He informs them also, that he should come
upon them on a sudden ; and for this reason, charges
them to be always awake and upon their guard, ver. 35.
'' Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master
of the house cometh, whether at even, or at midnight,
or at cock-crowing, or in the morning."
Though the ultimate design of these parables, and
the coming of Christ mentioned therein, refer to the
great day of judgment, when he shall return from
heaven, shall raise the dead, and call mankind to ap-
pear before his judgment seat, to receive a recompence
according to their works ; yet both the duties and the
warnings which are represented in these parables, seem
to be very accommodable to the hour of death ; for then
our Lord Jesus, who lias the keys of death and the grave,
and the unseen icorld^ comes to finish our state of trial,
and to put a period to all our works on earth. He
comes then to call us into the invisible state ; he dis-
poses our bodies to the dust, and our souls are sent into
other mansions, and taste some degrees of appointed
happiness or misery, according to their behavior here.
The solemn and awful warning which my text gives us
concerning the return of Christ to judgment, may be
therefore pertinently applied to the season when he shall
send his messenger of death to fetch us hence. Watch
ye therefore, lest coining suddenly, hefnd you sleeping.
When I had occasion to treat on a subject near akin
to this,*^ I shewed that there was a distinction to be made
* In a funeral sermon for Mrs. Sarah Abney, on Luke xii. "7 ; " Blessed
are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching."
SURPRISE IN DEATH. ±25
between the dead sleep of a sinner, and slumber of an
unwatcliful christian. Those who never had the work
of religion begun in their hearts or lives, are sleeping the
sleep of death ; whereas some who are made alive by
the grace of Christ, yet may indulge sinful drowsiness,
and grow careless and secure, slothful and inactive.
The wise virgins as well as the foolishy were slumber-
ing and sleeping; Matt. xxv. 5. The mischiefs and
sorrows which attend each of these, when Christ shall
summon them to judgment, or shall call them away from
earth by natural death, are great and formidable, though
they are not equally dangerous. Let us consider each
of them in succession, in order to rouse dead sinners
from their lethargy, and to keep drowsy christians
awake.
First. Let us survey the sad consequences which at-
tend those that are asleep in sin, and spiritually dead,
when the hour of natural death appproaches. They
are such as these : —
I. If they happen to be awakened on the borders of the
grave, into what a horrible confusion and distress of soul
are they plunged P What keen anguish of conscience
for their past iniquities seizes upon them ? What bitter
remorse and self reproaches, for the seasons of grace
which they have wasted, for the proposals of mercy
which they have abused and rejected, and for the divine
salvation which seems now to be lost for ever, and put
almost beyond the reach of possibility and hope. They
feel the messenger of death laying his cold hands upon
them ; and they shudder and tremble with the expecta-
tion of approaching misery. They look up to heaven
and they see a God of holiness there, as a consuming
fire ready to devour them, as stubble fit for the flame.
They look to the Son of God, who has the keys of death
in his hand, and who calls them away from the land of
the living, even to Jesus, the compassionate Mediator ;
1S6 SURPRISE IN DEATH.
but they can scarce persuade tlieni selves to expect auy
thing from hira, because they have turned a deaf ear so
long to the invitations of liis gospel, and so long afl'ronted
bis divine compassion. They look behind them, and
with painful agonies are frighted at the mountains of
their former guilt, ready to overwhelm them. They
look forward and see the pit of hell opening upon them,
with all its torments, long darkness without a glimpse
of light, and eternal despair with no glimmerings
of hope.
Or if now and then amidst their horrors, they would
try to form some faint hope of mercy, how are their
spirits perplexed with prevailing and distracting fears,
with keen and cutting reflections ? *' O that I had im-
proved my former seasons for reading, for praying, for
meditating on divine things ! But I cannot read, I can
hardly meditate, and scarce know how to pray. Will
the ear of God ever hearken to the cries and groans of
a rebel, that has so long resisted his grace ? Are there
any pardons to be had for a criminal, who never felt his
sins till vengeance was in view ? Will the blood of
Christ ever be applied to wash a soul that has wallowed
in his defilements, till death roused him out of them ?
Will the meanest favor of heaven be indulged to a
wretch wlio has grown bold in sin, in opposition to so
loud and repeated warnings ? I am awake indeed, but
I can see nothing round me but distresses and discour-
agements ; and my soul sinks within me, and my heart
dies at the tlioughts of appearing before God."
It is a wise and just observation among christians,
though it is a very common one, that the scriptures give
us one instance of a penitent saved in his dying hour ;
and that is the tli'ief upon the cross, that so none might
utterly despair : But there is but one such instance given,
that none may presume. The work of repentance is
too diflBcult, and too important a thing, to be left to the
SURPRISE IN DEATH. Ig^
languors of a dying bed, and the tumults and fluttevings
of thought, which attend such a late conviction. There
can be hardly any elBfectual proofs given of the sincerity
of such repentings. And 1 am verily persuaded there
are few of them sincere ; for we have often found these
violent emotions of conscience vanish again, if the sinner
has happened to recover his health. They seem to be
merely the wild perplexities and struggles of nature,
averse to misery, rather than averse to sin. Their re-
nouncing their former lusts, on the very borders of hell
and destruction, is more like the vehement and irregular
efforts of a drowning creature, constrained to let go a
most beloved object, and taking eager hold of any plank
for safety, rather than the calm, reasonable, and volun-
tary designs of a mariner, who forsakes his earthly joys,
ventures himself in a ship that is oifered him, and sets
sail for the heavenly country. I never will pronounce
such eiForts and endeavors desperate, lest I limit the
grace of God which is unbounded ; but I can give very
little encouragement for hope to an hour or two, of this
vehement and tumultuous penitence, on the very brink
of damnation. Judas repented ; but his agonies of soul
hurried him to hasten his own death, that he might go
to his own place. And there is abundance of such kind
of repenting in every corner of hell. That is a deep
and dreadful pit, whence there is no redemption, though
there are millions of such sorts of penitents. It is a
strong and dark prison, where no beam of comfort ever
shines, where bitter anguish and mourning for sins past,
is no evangelical repentance, but everlasting and hope-
less sorrow.
II. Those that are found sleeping at the hour of death,
are carried away at once, from all their sensual pursuits
and enjoy men' Sf which were their chosen portion ^ and
their highest happiness. At once they lose all their
golden dreams ; and their chief good is, as it were
4S8 SURPRISE IN DEATH.
snatched away from them at once, and for ever. They
stand on slippery places ; they are brought to destruction
in a moment ; and all their former joys are like a dream
when one ivaketh, and finds himself beset round with
terrors.
Are there any of you that are pleasing yourselves
here in the days of youth and vanity, and indulge your
dreams of pleasure, in the sleep of spiritual death, think
of the approaching moment, when the death of nature
shall dissolve your sleep, and scatter all the delusive
images of sinful joy. Tliis separation from the body of
flesh, is a fearful sliock given to the soul, that makes it
awake indeed. Sermons would not do it ; the voice of
the preacher was not loud enough ; strokes of affliction,
and smarting providences would not do it ; perhaps the
soul might be roused a little, but dropt into profound
sleep again ; sudden or surprising deaths near them,
and even the pains of nature in their own flesli, their own
sicknesses and diseases, did not awaken them, nor the
voice of the Lord in them all. But the parting stroke
tliat divides the soul and body, will terrihly awaken the
soul from the vain delusion, and all its fancied delights
for ever vanish.
When they are visited by the Lord of hosts, with this
tliunder and earthquake, as the prophet Isaiah speaks,
v,'hen tMs storm and tempest of deatli shall shake the
sinner out of his airy visions, he shall be as an hungry
man that dreameth he was eating, but awakes and his
soul is empty ; or as a thirsty creature dreaming that he
drinks, hut he awaketh, and behold he is faint, and his
soul is pained with raging appetite. The sinner finds
to his own torment, how wretchedly he lias deceived
himself and fed upon vanity. There are no more earthly
objects to please his senses, and to gratify his inclina-
tions : but the soul for ever lives upon a rack of carnal
desire, and no proper object to satisfy it. His taste is
SURPRISE IN DEATH. Ii39
not suited to the pleasures of a world of spirits, be cau
find no God there to comfort him. God with his offers
of grace, are gone for ever, and the world with its joys
are for ever vanished, while the wretched and malicious
creatures, into whose company he is hurried, and who
were the tempters or associates of his crimes, shall stand
round him to become his tormentors.
HI. Though death will awaken sinful souls into a
sharper and more lively sense of divine and heavenly
things than ever they had in this worldly et they shall never
he awakened to spiritual life and holiness. And I think I
may add, that though they should be awakened to a sight
of God, his justice, and his grace, to a sight of heaven and
hell, more immediate and perspicuous than what even the
saints themselves usually enjoy in this life, yet they would
remain still under the bondage of their lusts, still dead
in trespasses and sins. They shall for ever continue
unbeloved of God, and incapable of all the happiness of
the heavenly state, because they are for ever averse to
the holiness of God, and themselves for ever unholy. It
is only in the present state of trial, and under the present
proposals of grace, that sleeping sinners can be awak-
ened into the spiritual and divine life. The voice of
the Son of God, that breaks the monuments of brass, and
makes tombs of hardest marble yield to his call, shall
never break one heart of stone, which is gone down to
death, in its native and sinful hardness. That almighty
voice that must awaken the nations of the dead, and
command their bodies up from the grave, shall never
awaken one dead soul, when they are past the limits of
this life. The compassionate calls of a Saviour, and the
offers of mercy, are then come to their utmost period.
And if we refuse to hear the call of mercy to the moment
of death, we shall then be terribly constrained to feel the
loss of it, but never able to obtain the blessing.
Obstinate sleepers shall be awakened to see God, bnt
17
130 SURPRISE IN DEATH.
only as Balaam was : / shall see Mm, but not nigh /
Numb. xxiv. I7. The saints in this life have God near
them in all their trials, as a father and a friend, to uphold,
to comfort, to sanctify, though they see him but darkly
through a glass, and behold but little of his power or
glory. The sinner awaking in hell, shall, perhaps, have
a clearer and more acute perception of what God is, than
any saint on earth. But he shall behold him as an en-
emy, and not a friend. If he beholds him in the glory
of his grace, it is at a dreadful and insuperable distance :
there is no grace for him. He sees him in his holiness,
but he cannot love liiin ; he has no meltings of true pen-
itence for his former rebellions against God ; his heart
is hardened into everlasting enmity, and shall never taste
of his love. Hence arise all the foul and gnawing pas-
sions of envy, malignity, and long despair, which are the
very image of satan, and change mankind into devils.
These impenitent sons and daughters of men shall
grow into the more complete likeness of those wicked
spirits, and, under tlie impressions of their guilt and
damnation, they sliall rival those apostate and cursed
creatures,in the obstinate hatred of God and all that is holy.
IV. Hence it will follow in the last place, tliat the
sinner who i^fast asleep in his sins at the hour of death ,
shall awake into such a life as is worse than dying. He
shall be surprised all at once into darkness and fire, which
have no gleam of light, and sorrows without mitigation.and
which can find no end. The punishm.ent of hell is not
called eternal death, to denote a state of senseless and
stupid existence ; but death being the most opposite to
life, and all the enjoyments of it, the misery of hell is
described by deatli, as the most formidable thing to na-
ture, as a word that puts a period to all the enjoyments
of this mortal life, and stands directly opposite to a life
of joy and glory in the immortal world. Happy would
it be for such souls if they could sink into an evevlasting
SURPRISE IN DEATH. 131
sleep, and grow stupid and senseless for ever and ever.
But this is a favor not to be granted to those who have
been constant and nnrepenting rebels, against the law
and the grace of God.
The moment when the body falls asleep in death, the
soul is more awake than ever, to behold its own guilt
and wretchedness. It has then such a lively and pierc-
ing sense of its own iniquities, and the divine wrath that
is due to them, as it never saw or felt before. The in-
word senses of the soul, if I may so express it, which
have been darkened and stupified, and benumbed in this
body, are all awake at once, when the veil of ilesh is
thrown off, and the curtains are drawn back, which di-
vided them from the world of spirits. Every thought of
sin, and the anger of God^ wounds the spirit deep in this
awakened state, though it scarce felt any thing of it be-
fore ; and a wounded spirit icJio can bear ? Prov.
xviii 14. But sinners must bear it days without end, and
ages without hope.
Then the crimes they have committed, and the sinful
pleasures they have indulged, shall glare upon their re-
membrance, and stare them in the face with dreadful
surprise ; and each of them is enough to drive a soul to
despair. Nor can they turn tlieir eyes away from the
horrid sight, for their criminal practices beset them
around, and the naked soul is all sight and all sense ; it
is eye and ear all over ; it hears the dreadful curses of
the law, and the sentence of the Judge, and never, never
forgets it. This is the character, these the circumstances
of an obstinate sinner, that awakes not till the moment
of death, and lift up his eyes in hell, as our Saviour ex-
presses it. These will be the consequences of our guilt
and folly, if we are found in a dead sleep of sin, when
our Lord comes to call us from this mortal state.
Secondlijf Let us spend a few thoughts also upon the
dangerous and unhappy circumstances of those of whom
13S SURPRISE IN DEATH.
we may have some reason to hope, they have once begun
religion in good earnest, and are made spiritually alive,
but have indulged themselves in drowsiness, and woirn out
the latter end of their days in a careless, secure, and
slothful frame of spirit.
1. If they have had the principle of vital religion
"wrought in their hearts, yet by these criminal slumbers j
they darken and lose their evidences of grace ; and by this
means, they cut themselves off from the sweet reflec-
tions and comforts of it on a dying bed, tchen they have
most need of them. They know not whether they are the
children of God or no, and are in anxious confusion and
distressing fear. They have scarce any plain proofs of
their conversion to God, and the evidences of tnie Chris-
tianity ready at hand, when all are little enougli to sup-
port their spirits. They have not used themselves to
search for them by self inquiry, and to keep them in
their sight ; and therefore they are missing in this im-
poi-tant hour. They have not been wont to live upon
their lieavenly hopes, and they cannot be found when
they want them to rest upon in death. They die there-
fore almost like sinners, though they may, perhaps, have
been once converted to holiness ; and there may be a.
root of grace remaining in them ; and the reason is,
because they have lived too much as sinners do. They
liave given too great and criminal indulgence to the
vain and worldly cares, or the trifling amusements of
this life. These have engrossed almost all their thoughts
and their time ; and therefore in the day of death, they
fall under terrors and painful apprehensions of a doubt-
ful eternity just at hand.
If Ave have not walked closely with God in this world,
we may well be afraid to appear before him in the
next. If we have not maintained a constant converse
witli Jesus our Saviour, by holy exercises of faith and
hope, it is no wonder if we are not so ready w itli cheer-
SURPRISE 'IN DEATH. I33
fulness and joy, to resign our departing spirits into bis
hand. It is possible we may have a right to the inher-
heritance of heaven, having had some sight of it by faith
as revealed in the gospel, having in the main chosen it
for our portion, and set our feet in the path of holiness
that leads to it ; but we have so often wandered out of
the way, that in this awful and solemn hour, we shall be
in doubt whether we shall be received at the gates, and
enter into the city.
Such unwatchful christians have not kept the eternal
glories of heaven, in their constant and active pursuit,
they have not lived upon them as their portion and in-
heritance, they have been too much strangers to the
invisible world of happiness, and they know not how to
venture through death into it. They have built indeed
upon the solid foundation, Christ Jesus and the gospel ;
but they have mingled so much hay and stubble with the
superstructure, that when they depart hence, or when
they appear before Christ in judgment, they shall suffer
great loss by the burning of their works, yet themselves
may be saved so as by fire ; 1 Cor. iii. 10 — 15. They may
pass as it were by the flame of hell, and have something
like the scorching terrors of it in death, tliough the
abounding and forgiving grace of the gospel, may con-
vey them safe to heaven. They escape as a man that is
awakened with the sudden alarms of fire, who suffers the
loss of his substance, and a great part of the fruit of liis
labors, and just saves his own life. They plunge into
eternity, and make a sort of terrible escape from hell.
2. ^' They can never expect any peculiar favors from
heaven at the hour of death, no special visitations of the
comforting spirit, nor that the love of God, and the joy of
his presence, should attend them through the dark val-
ley." It is not to such unwatchful or sleepy christians,
that God is wont to vouchsafe his choicest consolations.
They fall under terrible fears about the pardon of their
134 SURPRISE IN DEATH.
sins, when they stand in most need of the sight of their
pardon ; and Christ as the ruler of his church, sees it
fit they shoukl be tlias punished for their negligence.
They lay hold of the promises of mercy with a trembling
hand, and cannot claim them by a vigorous faith, because
they have not been wont to live upon them, nor do
they see those holy characters in their own hearts and
lives, which confirm their title to them. They have no
bright views of the celestial world, and earnests of their
salvation, for it is only for watchful souls, that these
cordials are prepared in the fainting hour ; it is only to
the watchful christian, that these foretastes of glory are
given. '' The fruit of righteousness is peace, and the
eftect of righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever,
Isaiah xxxii. 17. Blessed is he which icatcheth, and
Jeeepeth his garments clean, that he may enter with tri-
umph into that city, where nothing shall enter that de-
fileth.
3. Sliimhering and slothful christians are oftentimes
left to wrestle icith sore temptations of satan, and have
dreadful conflicts in the day of death ; and the reason is
evident, because they have not watclied against their ad-
versary, and obtained but few victories over him in their
life. These temptations are keen and piercing thorns,
that enter deep into the heart of a dying creature. The
devil may be let loose upon them ivith great wrath,
Tcnowing that his time is but short ; and yet tliere is
great justice in the conduct of the God in heaven, in
giving them up to be buffetted by the powers of hell.
What frightful agonies are raised in the conscience, by
the temper, and the accuser of souls, on a sick or dying
bed, can hardly be described by the living, and are
known only to those who have felt them in death.
4. Such drowsy christians make dismal work for new
and terrible repentance on a death bed ; for, though they
have sincerely repented in times past of their former sins,
SURPRISE IN DEATH. 135
yet having too much omitted the self-mortifying duties,
having given too much indulgence to temptation and fol-
ly, and having not maintained this habitual penitence,
for their daily oflences in constant exercise, tlieir spirits
are now filled with fresli convictions, and bitter remorse
of heart. The guilt of their careless and slothful con-
duct finds them out now, and besets them around, and
they feel most acute sorrows, and wounding reflections
of conscience, while they have need of most comfort.
What a glorious entrance had St. Paul into the world of
spirits, and the presence of Christ? He had made re-
pentance and mortification and fiiith in Jesus, his daily
work. ^^O wretched man that I am! Who shall de-
liver me from the body of this death ? I run, I fight, I
subdue my body, and keep it under ; I am crucified to
the world, and the world to me ; the life which I live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God." When
he was ready to he offered up, and the time of Ids dejmr-
ture was at hand, from the edge of tlie sword, and the
borders of the grave, he could look back upon his for-
mer life, and say, " I have fouglit the good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept tlie faith, henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of rigliteousness, which
the Lord the righteous Judge will give me." 3 Tim.
iv. 7, 8.
5. The unwatchful christian, at the hour of death,
has the pain and anguish of reflecting, that he has omit-
ted many duties to God and man, and these can never be
performed now ; that he has done scai'ce any services
for Christ in the world, and those must be left for ever
undone. There is no further work or device, no labors
of zeal, no activity for God in the grave, whither we are
hastening; Eccl. ix. 10. ^^Alas! I have brought forth
but little fruit to God, and it is Avell if I be not cast away
as an unprofitable servant. My talents have laid bound
up in rust, or been but poorly employed, wliilst T have
136 feURPIUSE IN DEATH
laid slumbering and inactive. The records of my life in
the court of heaven, Avill shew but very little service for
God amongst men ; I have raised few monuments of praise
to my Redeemer, and I can never raise them now. I
shall have but few testimonies for my love and zeal, to
appear in the great day of account, when the martyi's,
and the confessors, and tlie lively christians, shall be
surrounded with the living ensigns of their victories over
sin and the world, and their glorious services for their
Redeemer. Wretch that I am ! that I have loved my
Lord at so cold a rate, and laid slumbering on a bed of
ease, whilst I should have been fighting the battles of
the Lord, and gaining daily honors for my Saviour !"
6. Jls such sort of christians give but little glory to
God in life, so they do him no honor in death : they are
no ornaments to religion ivhile they continue here, and
leave perhaps but little comfort with their friends when
they go hence. Doubtings and jealousies about their
eternal welfare, mingle with our tears and sorrows for a
dying friend ; these anxious fears about the departed
spirit, swell the tide of our grief high, and double the in-
ward anguish. They are gone alas ! from our world,
but we know not whither they are gone, to heaven or to
hell. A sad fareAvell to tliose whom we love ! a dismal
parting- stroke, and a long heart-ache !
And wliat honor can be expected to be done to God or
his Son, what reputation or glory can be given to religion
and the gospel, by a drowsy christian departing, as it
were, under a spiritual letliargy ? He dies under a cloud,
and casts a gloom upon the christian faith. St. Paul
was a man of another spirit, a lively and active saint,
full of vigor and zeal in his soul. It was t!ie holy resolu-
tion and assurance of tliis blessed apostle, ^^ that Christ
should be magnified in his body, whether by life or
death ;" Phil. i. 20. He spent liis life in the service of
Christ, and he could rejoice in death as his gain. It is
SURPRISE IN DEATH. 137
a glory to the gospel, when we can lie down and die with
courage, in the hope of its promised blessings. It is an
honor to our common faith, when it overcomes tlie terrors
of death, and raises the christian to a song of triumph, in
view of the last enemy. It is as a new crown put upon
the head of our Redeemer, and a living cordial put into
the hands of mourning friends in our dying hour, when we
can take our leave of them with holy fortitude, rejoicing
in the salvation of Christ. No sooner does he call but
we are ready, and can answer, with lioly transport,
Lord 1 come. This is a blessing that belongs only to
the watchful christian. May every one of us be awake
to salvation in our expiring moments, and partake of
this glorious blessedness !
I proceed now to a few remarks, and particularly
such as relate to the necessity and duty of constant
watchfulness, and the hazardous case of sleeping souls.
1. Remark. To presume on long life is a most dan-
gerous temptation, for it is the common spring and
cause of spiritual sleep and drowsiness. Could we
take an inward view of the hearts of men, and trace out
the springs of their coldness and indifference about eter-
nal things, and the shameful neglect of their most im-
portant interests, we siiould find this secret thought in
the bottom of tiieir hearts, that we are not like to die to-
diij or to-morrow. They put this evil day afar off, and
ind'ilge therasplves in their carnal delights, without due
solicitude to prepare for the call of God. There is
scarce any thing produces so much evil fruit in the
world, so much shameful wickedness amongst the sen-
sual and the profane, or such neglect of lively religion
among real christians, as this bitter root of presumption
upon life and time before us. Matt. xxiv. 48, 49. The
evil servant did not hegin to smite his fellows, and to
eat and drink with the drunken, till he said in his heart,
my Lord delayeth his coming. It was lahile the bride-
18
138 SURPRISE IN DEATH.
groom tarried, and they imagined he would tarry lon-
ger, tliat even the wise virgins fell into slumbers. Ask
your own hearts, my friends, does not this thought se-
cretly lurk within you, when you comply with a temp-
tation, surely T shall not die yet, I have no sickness upon
me, nor tokens of death, 1 shall live a little longer, and
repent of my follies ? Vain expectation and groundless
fancy ! When you see the young, and the strong, and
the healthy, seized away from the midst of you, and a
final period put at once to all their works and designs in
this life. Yet we are foolish enough to imagine our term
of life shall be extended, and we presume upon months
and years, which God hath not written down for us in
his own book, and which he will never give us to enjoy.
We are all borderers upon the river of death, which
conveys us into the eternal world, and we should be
ever waiting the call of our Lord, that we may launch
away witli joy, to the regions of immortality. But
thoughtless creatures that we are, we are perpetually
wandering far up into the fields of sense and time, we are
gathering the gay and fading flowers that grow there, and
filling our laps with them as a fair treasure, or makine;
garlands for ambition to crown our brows, till one and
another of us is called oif on a sudden, and hurried away
from this mortal coast. Tliose of us who survive, are
surprised a little, we stand gazing, we follow our depart-
ing friends with a weeping eye for a minute or two, and
then we fall to our amusements again, and grow busy as
before, in gathering the flowers of time and sense. O
how fond we are to eurich ourselves with these perisliing
trifles, and adorn our heads with honors and withering
vanities, never thinking whicli of us may receive the next
summons to leave all behind us, and stand before God :
but each presumes it will not be sent to me. We trifle
with God antl things eternal, or utterly forget them,
while our hands and our hearts are thus deeply engaged
SURPRISE IN DEATH. 139
in the pursuit of our earthly delights. All our powers of
thought and actiou, are intensely busied amongst the
dreams of this life, while we are asleep to God, because
we vainly imagine he will not call us yet.
2. Remark. Whatsoever puts us in mind of dying,
should be improved to awaken us from our spiritual
sleep. Sudden deaths near us should have this affect ;
our young companions and acquaintance snatched away
from among us in an unexpected hour, should become
our monitors in death, and teach us this divine and need-
ful lesson. The surprising loss of our friends who lay
near our hearts, should put us in mind of our own de-
parture, and powerfully awaken us from our dangerous
slumbers. Sinners when they feel no sorrows, they
think of no death : but ivhen the judgments of God are
in the earth, his spirit can awaken the inhabitants of the
ivorld to learn righteousness. At such seasons it is time
for the sinners in Zion to be afraid, sin([ fearfulness to
surprise the hyprocrites. Even the children of God
have sometimes need of painful warning-pieces, to awa-
ken them from their careless, their slothful, and their
secure frame. And as for those souls who are indeed
awake to righteousness, and lively in the practice of all
religion and virtue, such sudden and awful strokes of
providence have a happy tendency to wean them from
creatures, and keep them awake to God, that when their
Lord comes he may find them watching, and pronounce
upon them everlasting blessedness.
3. Remark. JSTo person can be exempted from this
duty of watchfulness, till he is Lord of his own life, and
can appoint the time of his own dying. Then indeed
you might have some colour for your carnal indulgen-
cies, some pretence for sleeping, if you were sovereign
of death and the grave, and had tlie keys in your own
hand.
And truly such as venture to sleep in sin, do in effect
140 SURPRISE IN DEATH.
say, we are lords ef our own life. They act and man-
age as if their times were in their own hands, and not in
the hand of their Maker. But the watchful christian
lives upon that principle, which David professes, Psalm.
xxxi. 15 ; my times are in thine hand, O Lr>rd ; and they
never give rest to themselves till they can rejoice with
him, and say to the Lord, " thou art my God, into thy
hands I commit my spirit, for thou hast redeemed it, and
I leave it to thy appointment when thou wilt dislodge
me from this body of flesh and blood, and call me into
thy more immediate presence." If we could but resist
the messenger of death, when the Lord of hosts has
sent it, if we could shut the mouth of the grave when the
Son of God has opened it for us, with the key that is
intrusted in his hand, we might say then to our souls,
sleep on upon your bed of ease, and take your rest. But
wo be to those, who will venture to sleep in an unholy
and unpardoned state, or even allow themselves the in-
dulgence of short and sinful slumbers, when they cannot
resist death one moment, when they cannot delay the
summons of heaven, when they cannot defer their ap-
pearance before that Judge, whose sentence is eternal
pleasure, or everlasting pain.
Our Itoly watch must not be intermitted one moment,
for every following moment is a grand uncertainty.
There is no minute of life, no poiut of time, wherein I
can say / shall not die, and therefore I should not dare
to say, this minute I ivill take a short slumber. What
if my Lord should summon me while he finds me sleep-
ing? His command cannot be disobeyed, the very call
and sound of it divides me from flesh and blood, and all
that is mortal, and sends me at once into the eternal
world, for it is an almighty voice.
4. Remark. As it is a foolish and dangerous thing,
for any of the sons and daughters of men to presume
upon long life, and neglect their watch, so persons un-
SURPRISE IN DEATH. 14|
der some 'peculiar circumstances, are eminently called
to he ever wakeful. Give me leave here to reckon up
some of them, and make a particular address to the per-
sons concerned.
1. Is your constitution of body weak and feeble ? You
carry then a perpetual w^arning about you never to in-
dulge sinful drowsiness. Every langor of nature as-
sures you, that it is sinking to the dust. Every pain
you feel, should put you in mind, that the pains of death
are ready to seize you. You are tottering upon the very
borders of the grave, and will you venture to drop in
before your hopes of life and immortality are secured,
and a joyful resurrection ? You pass perhaps many
nights, wherein the infirmities of your flesh will not suf-
fer you to sleep, and to take that common refreshment
of nature, and shall not these same infirmities keep you
awake to things spiritual, and rouse all your thoughts
and cares about your immortal interests?
2. You whose circumstances or employments of life,
expose you to perpetual dangers either by land or by sea /
yon who carry your lives as it were in your hand, and
are often in a day within a few inches of death, is it not
necessary for you to inquire daily. Am I prepared for a
departure hence ? Am I ready to hear the summons of
my Lord, and ready to give up my account before him ?
Shall I dare go on another day with my sins unpar-
doned, with my soul unsanctified, and in immediate
danger of eternal misery? A fall from a horse, or a
house top, may send you down to the pit whence there
is no redemption. Every wind that blows, and every
rising wave, may convey you into the eternal world ;
and are you ready to meet the great God in such a sur-
prise, and without warning ?
3. You who are young, and vigorous, and flourish
amidst all the gaities and allurements of life, you are in
most danger of being lulled asleep in sin, and therefore
142 SURPRISE IN DEATH.
I addressed you lately in a funeral discourse, when the
present providence gave each of you a new and loud call
to awake, and I pray God you may hear his voice in it.
4. Perhaps others of you are arrived to old age, and
the course of nature forhids you to expect a long contin-
uance in the land of the living. Are any of my hearers
ancient sinners and asleep still ? Venturous and thought-
less creatures ! That have grown old in slumber, and
worn out their whole life in iniquities ! Surely it is time
for you to hear the voice of tlie Son of God in the gos-
pel, and accept of his salvation. Behold the Judge is
at the door, he comes speedily, and he will not tarry,
his herald of death is just at hand. Are you willing lie
should seize you in a deadly sleep, and send you into
eternal sorrows ?
And let aged christians bestir themselves, and awake
from their slothful and secure frames of spirit ; let them
look upward to the crown that is not far oif, to the prize
that is almost within reach. Whatsoever your hand or
hesirtjlnd to do for God, do it tcith all your zeal and
might. Let your loins he girt about, and your natural
powers active in his service, let your lamjj of profession
be bright and burning, that when Jesus comes, ye may
receive him with joy.
5. And are there any of you that are under decays of
grace and piety, that are laboring and wrestling with
strong corruptions, or in actual conflict with repeated
temptations which too often prevail over you, it becomes
you to hear the watch-word which Christ often gives to
his churches under such circumstances. Make haste
and awake unto holiness, be watchful and strengthen
the things that remain that are ready to die ; hold fast
ivhat thou hast received ; remember thy first affection
and zeal, and repent and mourn for what thou hast lost,
lest I come upon thee as a thief, and thou shall notknow
the hour. Bemember whence thou art fallen, and repent,
SURPRISE IN DEATH. 143
and do thy first works, for thou hast lost thy first love.
Have a care of dangerous luke-u'armness, and indiffer-
ence in the things of religion. This is the very temper of
a sleepy declining christian, wliile he dreams he is rich
and has great attainments. Take heed, lest presuming
upon thy riches and thy self-sufficiency, thou shouldest
be found wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind,
and naked. Keep your souls awake hourly, and be
upon your guard against every adversary, and every de-
filement, lest ye be seized away in the commission of
some sin, or in the compliance with some foul tempta-
tion. The drowsy soldier is liable to be led captive,
and to die in fetters, and groan heavily in death. But
blessed is the watchful cln-istian ; he shall be found
amongst the overcomers, and shall partake of the rich
variety of divine favors, which are contained in the
epistles to the seven churches ; Rev. ii. and iii.
Though the greatest part of a former discourse, has
been describing the blessedness of a watchful christian
at the hour of death, and in this I have set before you
the sad consequences that attend sleepers, (both which
are powerful preservatives against drowsiness) yet at
the conclusion of this sermon, give me leave to add a
few more motives to tine duty of watchfulness, for we
cannot be too well guarded against the danger of spirit-
ual sloth and security.
Motive 1. Our natures at best in the jJresent state are
too much inclined to slumber. We are too ready to fall
asleep hourly. All the saints on earth, even the most
lively and active of them, are not out of danger, while
they carry this flesh and blood about them. Indeed the
best of christians here below dwell but as it were in twi-
light, and in some sense they may be described as per-
sons between sleeping and waking, in comparison of
the world of spirits. We liehold divine things here but
darkly, and exert our spiritual faculties but in a feeble
144i SURPRISE IN DEATH,
manner. It is only in the other ^yorlcl, that we are broad
awake, and in the perfect and unrestrained exercise of
our vital powers ; there only the complete life and vig-
or of a saint appears. In such a drowsy state then, and
in this dusky hour, we cannot be too diligent in rousing
ourselves, lest we sink tlown into dangerous slumbers.
Besides, if we profess to be children of the light and of
the day, and growing up to a brighter immortality, let
us not sleep as others do wlio are the sons and daugh-
ters of night and darkness ; t Thess. v. 4. 5.
Motive %. Almost every thing around us in this world
of sense and sin, tends to lull us asleep again as soon as
we begin to be awake. The busy or tiie pleasant scenes
of this temporal life are ever calling away our thoughts
from eternal things, they conceal from us the spiritual
world, and close our eyes to God, and things divine and
heavenly. If the eye of the soul were but open to in-
visible things, what lively christians should we be ?
But either the Avinds of worldly cares rock us to sleep,
or the charm of worldly pleasures sooth us into deceit-
ful slumbers. We are too ready to indulge earthly de-
lights, and while we dream of pleasure in the creatures,
we lose, or at least, abate our delights in God. Even
the lawful satisfactions of flesh and sense, and the enti-
cing oljjects round about us, may attach our hearts so
fast to them, as to draw us down into a bed of carnal
ease, till we fall asleep in spiritual security, and forget
that we are made for heaven, and that our hope and
our home is on high.
Motive 3. Many thousands have been found sleeping
at the call of Christ ; some perhaps in a profound and
deadly sleep, and others in an hour of dangerous slum-
ber. Many an acquaintance of ours has gone down to
the grave, when neither they nor we thought of their
dying at such a season. But as thoughtless as they were,
they were never the further from the point of death :
SURPRISE IN DE\TH. 145
and we shudder with horror, when we think what is
become of their souls.
While we are young, we are ready to please ourselves
with the enjoyments of life, and flatter our hopes with a
long succession of them. We suppose death to be at a
distance of fifty or three score miles : threescore years
and ten is the appointed period. But alas ! how few
are there whose hopes are fulfilled, or whose life is ex-
tended to those dimensions ? Perhaps the messenger
of death is within a furlong of our dwelling ; a few more
steps onward, and he smites us down to the dust.
There are some beautiful verses whicli I have read
perhaps thirty years ago, wherein the ingenious author
describes the different stages of human life, under the
image of a fair prospect or landscape ; and death is
placed by mistaken mortals, afar off, beyond them all.
Since the lines return now upon my remembrance, I
will repeat them here with some small alteration. They
are as follows :
Life and the scenes that round it rise.
Share in the same uncertainties ;
Yet still we hug ourselves with vain presage
Of future days serene and long ;
Of pleasures fresh and ever strong.
An active youth and slow declining age.
Like a fair prospect still we make
Things future pleasing forms to take :
First verdant meads arise and flowery fields :
Cool groves and shady copses here,
There brooks and winding streams appear,
While change of objects still new pleasures yields.
Further fine castles court the eye :
There wealth and honors we espy ;
Beyond, a huddled mixture fills the stage,
Till the remoter distance shrouds
The plains with hills, those hills with cjouds.
There we place death behind old shivering age.
When death, alas, perhaps too nigh.
In the next hedge doth skulking lie,
19
146 SURPRISE IN DEAl If.
There plants his engines, thence lets fly his darts ,
Which while we ramble without fear.
Will stop us in our full career,
And force us from our airy dreams to part.
How fond and vain are our imaginations, when we
have seen others called away on a sudden from the early
scenes of life, to promise ourselves a long continuance
here ! We have the same feeble bodies, the same tab-
ernacles of clay that others have ; and we are liable to
many of the same accidents or casualties. The same
killing diseases are at work in our natures, and why
should we imagine or presume that others should go so
much before us ?
And if we enquire of ourselves as to character or merit,
or moral circumstances of any kind, and compare our-
selves with those that are gone before, what foundation
have we to promise ourselves a longer continuance here?
Have we not the same sins, or greater, to provoke God ?
Are we more useful in the world than they, and do
more service for his name ? May not God summon us
off the stage of life on a sudden, as well as others?
What are we better than they? Are we not as much
under the sovereign disposal of the great God, as any of
our acquaintance who have been seized in the flower and
prime of life, and called away in an unexpected hour?
And what power have we to resist the seizure, or what
promise to hope that God will delay longer? Let us
then no more deceive ourselves with vain imaginations, -
but each of us awake and bestir ourselves, as though we
Were the next persons to be called away from this
assembly, and to appear next before the Lord.
Motive 4. When we are aicake, we are not only jitter
for th^ coming of our Lord to call us away by deatlu and
fitter for his apjmarance to the great judgment , hut we
are better prepared also to attend him in every call to
present duty, and more ready to meet his apjJearance in
SURPRISE IN DEATH. 14^
every providence. It is the christian soldier who is
ever awake and on his guard, that is only fit for every
sudden appointment to new stations and services ; he is
more prepared for any post of danger or hazardous enter-
prise, and better furnished to sustain the roughest as-
saults. We shall be less shocked at sudden afflictions
here on earth, if our souls keep heaven in view, and are
ready winged for immortality. When we are fit to die,
we are fit to live also, and to do better service for God,
in whichsoever of his worlds he shall please to appoint
our station. My business, O Father, and my joy, is to
do thy will among the sons of mortality, or among the
spirits of the blest on high.
Motive 5. Let us remember we have slept too long
already in days past, and it is but a little while that tve
are called to watch. We have worn away too much of
our life in sloth and drowsiness. The " night is far
spent" with many of us, " the day is at hand ; it is now
high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation
nearer tlian when we first believed ;" Rom. xiii. 11, ±2.
Another hour or two, and the night will be at end with
us ; Jesus, the morning star, is just appearing ; what ?
Can we not watch one hour 9 O happy souls, that keep
themselves awake to God in the midst of this dreaming;
world ! Happy indeed, when our Lord shall call us out
of these dusky regions, and we shall answer his call
with holy joy, and spring upward to the inheritance of
the saints in light ! Then all the seasons of darkness
and slumbering, will be finished for ever. There is no
need of laborious watchfulness in that world, where there
is no flesh and blood to hang heavy upon the spirit ; but
the sanctified powers of the soul are all life and immor-
tal vigor. There is no want of the sun beams to make
their day light, or to irradiate that city ; the glory of
God enlightens it with divine splendors, and the Lamb
Is the light thereof. No inhabitant can sleep under such
148 CHRIST ADMIRED AND
an united blaze of grace and glory. No faintings of
nature, no languors or weariness are found in all that
vital climate ; every citizen is for ever awake and busy
under the beams of that glorious day ; zeal, and love,
and joy, are the springs of then* eternal activity : and
there is no night there.
DISCOUESE IV.
CHRIST ADMIRED AND GLORIFIED IN
HIS SAINTS.
2 THESS. i. 10.
• — When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and
admired in all them that believe.
HOW mean and contemptible soever our Lord
Jesus Christ might appear heretofore on earth, yet there
is a day coming when he shall make a glorious figure in
the sight of men and angels. How little soever the
saints may be esteemed in our day, and look poor and
despicable in an ungodly world, yet there is an hour
approaching, wlieu they shall be glorious beyond all im-
agination ; and Christ himself shall be glorified in them.
In that day shall the Lord our Saviour be the object of
adoration and wonder, not only among those of the sons
of men that have believed on him, but before all the in-
tellectual creation ; and that, upon the account of his
grace manifested in believers.
The natural inquiry that arises here, is this ; What
particular instances of the grace of Christ in his saints.
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS, 14,9
shall he the matter of our admiration, and his glory in
that day 9
To this I shall propose an answer under the follow-
ing particulars.
First, It is a matter of pleasing wonder, that persons
of all characters should have been united in one faith,
and persuaded to trust In the same Savioiu*, and em])race
the same salvation ; for some of all sorts shall stand in
that blessed assembly. Then it shall be a fruitful spring
of wonder and glory, that men of various nations and
ages, of different tempers, capacities, and interests, of
contrary educations, and contrary prejudices, should be-
lieve one gospel, and tioist in one Deliverer, from hell
and death ; that the sprightly, the studious and the
stupid, the wise and the foolish, should relish and rejoice
in the same sublime truths, not only concerning the true
God, but also concerning Jesus the Redeemer ; that the
barbarian and the Roman, the Greek and the Jew, should
approve and receive the same doctrines of salvation, that
they should come into the same sentiments in the matters
of religion, and live upon them as their only hope.
Astonishing spectacle ! when the dark and savage in-
habitants of Africa, and our fore-fathers, the rugged and
warlike Britons, from the ends of the earth, sliall appear
in that assembly, with some of the polite nations of Greece
and Rome, and each of them shall glory in having been
taught to renounce the gods of their ancestors, and the
demons which they once worshipped, and shall rejoice
in Jesus, the King of Israel, and in Jehovah, the ever-
lasting God.
The conversion of the Gentile world to Christianity, is
a matter of glorious wonder, and shall appear to be so
in that great day. That those who had been educated
to believe many gods, or no God at all, should renounce
atheism and idolatry, and adore the true God only ; and
those that were taught to sacrifice to idols, and to atone
150 CHRIST ADMIRED AND
for their own sins W'ith the blood of beasts, should trust
in one sacrifice, and the atoning blood of the Son of God.
Here shall stand a heliemng atheist^ and there a convert-
ed idolater, as monuments of the almighty power of his
grace.
There shall shine also in that assembly, here and there
a prince, and a philosopher, though not many wise, not
many noble, not many mighty are called; and they shall
be matter of wonder and glory ; that princes who love no
control, should bow their sceptres and their souls, to the
royalty and godhead of the poor man of Nazareth — That
the heathen philosophers, who had been used only to
yield to reason, should submit their understandings to
divine revelation, even when it has something above the
powers and discoveries of reason in it.
It shall raise our holy wonder too when we shall be-
hold some of the Jewish priests and pharisees who be-
came converts to the christian faith, adorning the triumph
of that day. The Jewish pharisees who expected a
glorious temporal Prince for their Messiah, that they
should at last own the son of a carpenter for their Teacher,
their Saviour, and their King ; that they should veil the
pride of their souls, and acknowledge a parcel of poor
fishermen for his chief ministers of state, and receive
them as ambassadors to the world. That those who
thought they were righteous, and boasted in it, should
renounce their boastings and righteousness, and learn
to expect salvation and life for themselves, from the
death and righteousness of another — That they who
once called the cross of Christ folly and weakness, should
come to see the wisdom and 'power of God in a crucified
man, and believe him who hung upon a tree as an ac-
cursed creature, to be Emmanuel, God with us, God
manifest in the flesli, and the Saviour of mankind.
Surely shall men and angels say in that day, '^ these
were the effects of an Almighty Power, it was the work
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 151
of God the Saviour, and it is marvellous in our eyes."
With united voices shall all the saints confess, " flesh
and blood has not revealed this unto us, but the spirit of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and of God the Father. We
had perished in our folly, but Christ has been made
wisdom to us ; we were in darkness and lay under the
shadow of death, but Christ has given us light ;" 1 Cor.
i. 30 ; Ephe. v. 14-.
Come, all ye saints of these latter ages upon whom the
end of the world is come, raise your heads with me and
look far backwards, even to beginning of time and the
days of Adam ; for the believers of all ages, as well as
of all nations, shall appear together in that day, and
acknowledge Jesus the Saviour. According to the
brighter or dai'ker discoveries of the age in which they
lived, he has been the common object of their faith. Ever
since he was called the seed of the ivoman, till the time
of his appearance in the flesh, all the chosen of God have
lived upon his gTace, though multitudes of them never
knew his name. It is true, the greater part of that illus-
trious company on the right hand of Christ, lived since
the time of Ms incarnation, (for i\v<^ great multitude which
no man could number, is derived from the Gentile na-
tions ; Rev. vii. 9.) Yet the ancient patriarchs, with
the Jewish prophets and saints, shall make a splendid
appearance there. '^ One hundred and forty four thou-
sand are sealed among the tribes of Israel.'' These of
old embraced the gospel in types and shadows ; but now
their eyes behold Christ Jesus the substance and the
truth. In the days of their flesh they read his name in
dark lines, and looked through the long glass of pro-
phecy to distant ages, and a Saviour to come, and now
behold they find complete and certain salvation and glory
in him. •• These all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar ofl*, and were
persuaded of them f Heb. xi. 13. They died in the
15S CfmiST ADMIRED AND
hope of this salvation, and they shall arise in the blessed
possession of it.
Behold Abraham appearing there, the Father of the
faithful, who saw the day of Christ, and rejoiced to see
it ; who trusted in his Son Jesus two thousand years
before he was born. His elder family, tlie pious Jews,
surround him there, and we his younger children among
the Gentiles, sliall stand with liim as the followers of
his faith, who trust in the same Jesus almost two thou-
sand years after he is dead. How shall we both rejoice
to see this brightest day of the Son of Man, and con-
gratulate each others faith, while our eyes meet and cen-
ter in him, and our souls triumph in the sight and love,
and enjoyment of him in whom we believed ! How ad-
mirable and divinely glorious shall our Lord himself
appear on whom every eye is fixed with unutterable de-
light, in whom the faith of distant countries and ages is
centered and reconciled, and in whom all the nations of
ihe earth appear to be blessed, according to the ancient
word of promise ; Gen. xv. and xvii.
Secondly. It is a further occasion of pleasing wonder,
that so many wicked obstinate wills of men, and so many
perverse affections, should be bowed down, and submit
themselves to the holy rules of the gospel. This is
another instance of the grace of Christ, and shall be the
subject of our joyful admiration. Every son and daughter
of Adam by nature is averse to God, and inclined to sin,
a child of disobedience and death ; Eph. ii. 2. There is
a new miracle wrouglit by Christ in every instance of
converting grace, and he shall have the glory of them all
in that day. It is a first resurrection of the dead, it is a
new creation, and the Almighty Power shall then be
publicly adored.
Then one shall say, " I was a sensual sinner, drench-
ed in liquor and unclean lusts, and wicked in all the
forms of lewdness and intemperance. The grace of
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 153
God my Saviour appeared to me, and taught me to deny
the worldly lusts, which I once thought I could never
have parted with. I loved my sins as my life, but he has
persuaded and constrained me to cut off a right hand,
and to pluck out a right eye, and to part with my dar-
ling vices ; and behold me here a monument of his saving
mercy.
"^ I was envious against my neighbor, (shall another
say) and my temper was malice and wrath ; revenge was
mingled with my constitution, and I thought it no in-
iquity : but I bless the name of Christ my Redeemer,
who in the day of his grace turned my wrath into meek-
ness ; he inclined me to love even mine enemies, and to
pray for them that cursed me ; he taught me all this by
his own example, and he made me learn it by the sove-
reign influences of his Spirit. I am a wonder to myself,
when I think what once I was ; amazing change, and
Almighty grace !"
Then a third shall confess, "I was sl profane wretch,
a swearer, sl blasphemer ; I hoped for no heaven, and I
feared no hell ; but the Lord seized me in the midst of
my rebellions, and sent his arrows into my soul ; he
made me feel the stings of an awakened conscience, and
constrained me to believe there was a God and a hell,
till I cried out astonished, what shall I do to he saved P
Then he led me to partake of his own salvation, and
from a proud rebellious infidel, he has made me a penitent
and a humble believer ; and here I stand to shew forth
the wonders of his grace, and tlie boundless extent of
his forgiveness."
A fourth shall stand up and acknowledge in that day,
" And I was a poor carnal covetous creature, who made
this world my God, and abundance of money was my
heaven ; but he cured me of this vile idolatry of gold,
taught me how to obtain treasures in the heavenly world,
and to forsake all on earth, that I might have an inher-
IS-^t CHRIST ADMIRED AKD
itance there ; and behold he has not disappointed my
hope. I am now made rich indeed, and I must for ever
speak his praises."
There shall be no doubt or dispute in that day, wheth-
er it was the power of our own will, or the superior power
of divine grace, that wrought the blessed change, that
turned a lion into a lamb, a grovelling earth-worm into a
bird of paradise, and of a covetous or malicious sinner,
made a meek and a heavenly saint. The grace of Clirist
shall be so conspicuous in every glorified believer in
that assembly, that with one voice they shall all shout to
the praise and glory of his grace ; JSTot to us, O Lord,
7iot to MS, but to thy name be all the honor ; Psalm cxv. 1 .
Thirdly. It shall be the matter of our wonder, and
the glory of Christ in that day, that so many thousand
guilty wretches should be made righteous by one right-
eousness, cleansed in one laver from all their iniquities,
and sprinkled unto pardon and sanctification, with the
blood of one man, Jesus Christ. See the great multi-
tude that no man can number ; Rev. vii. 9, 10. They
all ivashed their robes, and made them ivhite in the
blood of the Lamb; ver. 14.
It is a matter of wonder to us now on earth, tliat tlie
blessed Son of God who is one with the Father, should
stoop so low as to unite himself to a mortal nature, that
he should become a poor despicable man, and pass
through a life of suiferings and sorrows, and die an ac-
cursed death, to redeem us from guilt and deserved mis-
ery. But when we shall see him in his native glory
and lustre, his acquired dignities, and all the honors of
heaven heaped upon him, it will raise our wonder Iiigli
to think that such a one should once humble himself to
the death of the cross, the death of the vilest slave, that
he might save our souls from dying ; that he should
pour out his own blood to wash off the stains of millions
of sins, that we might appear righteous before the God
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS, 155
of holiness. Then shall the multitude of the saved join
in that song, "To him that loved us, and vrashed us
from our sins in his own blood, be glory and dominion
for ever ; Rev. i. 5, 6." "Worthy is the Lamb that vras
slain to receive power, and riches, and honour, for thou
hast redeemed us with thy blood from every kindred,
tribe and nation ;" Rev. v.
Then shall those blessed words of scripture appear
and shine in full glory, howsoever they are often passed
over in silence, and too much forgotten in our age ; Rom.
V. 17? 19, 2i ; " tf by one man's offence death reigned by
one ; much more they which receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by
one, Jesus Christ. For as by one man's disobedi-
ence many were made sinners ; so by the obedience of
one shall many be made righteous. That as sin hath
reigned unto death, even so might grace reign tlirough
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
Then shall our blessed Lord shine in the complete lus-
tre of that incommunicable name Jehovah Tzidkenu,
The Lord of righteeusness ; Jer. xxiii. 6.
And not only the atonement and salvation itself, shall
be the subject of our glorious admiration, but the icay
and manner how sinners partake of it, shall minister
further to our wonder, and to the glory of Christ. Tiiat
such a world of poor miserable creatures should be sa-
ved from hell, by believing or trusting in grace, when
they could never be saved by all their own works ; that
they should obtain righteousness and acceptance unto
eternal life, by a humble penitence and poverty of spirit,
depending on the death and righteousness of another,
Avhen all their labor and toil in works of the law, could
not make up a righteousness of their own, sufficient to
appear before the justice of God ; Christ will not only
be gloriiied in their holiness as saints, hut admired and
honored in and by their faith as believers. His blood
156 CHRIST ADMIRED AND
and his grace shall share all the glory. Therefore it is
of faith, and not of works that it might be of grace ; Rom.
iv. 15. Yet this saving faith is the spring of shining
holiness in every believer. Duties and virtues are not
left out of our religion, when faith is brought into it.
The graces of the saints join happily with the atonement
of Christ, to render that day more illustrious.
Fourthly. That a company of such feeble christians,
should maintain their course towards heaven, through so
many thousand obstacles. This shall be another sub-
ject of admiration, and yield a further revenue of glory
to our Lord Jesus Christ, for he who is their righteous-
ness is their strength also ; Isaiah xlv. 24, 25. In the
Lord shall all the seed of Israel glory in that day, as
their strength and their salvation. They have broke
through all their difficulties, and were able to do all
things through Christ strengthening them; Phil. iv. 13.
Behold that noble army w ith palms in their hands ;
once they were weak warriors, yet they overcame mighty
enemies, and have gained the victory and the prize ;
enemies rising from earth, and from hell, to tempt and
to accuse them, but they overcome by the blood of the
Lamb; Rev. xii, 7? H* What a divine honor shall it
be to our Lord Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation,
that weak christians should subdue their strong corrup-
tions, and get safe to heaven through a thousand oppo-
sitions within and without. It is all owing to the grace
of Christ whicli is all-sufficient for every saint. 2 Cor.
xii. 9. Tiiey are made more than conquerors through
him that has loved them ; Rom. viii. 38.
Then shall the faith, and courage, and patience of
the saints, have a blessed review ; and it shall be told
before the whole creation what strife and wrestlings a
poor believer has passed tlu'ough in a dark cottage, a
chamber of long sickness, or perhaps in a dungeon ; how
he has there combatted with powers of darkness, how
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 1^7
he has struggled with huge sorrows, and has home and
has not fainted, though he has been often in heaviness
through manifold temptations. Then shall appear the
bright scene which St. Peter represents as the event of
sore trials ; 1 Peter, i. 6, 7. When our faith has been
tried in the fire of tribulation, and is found more pre-
cious than gold, it sliall shine to the praise, honor, and
glory, of the suffering saints, and of Christ himself at
his appearance.
Behold that illustrious troop of martyrs, and some
among them of the feeblest sex and of tender age ; now
that women should grow bold in faitli, even in the sight
of torments, and children, with a manly courage, should
profess the name of Christ in the face of angry and
threatening rulers ; that some of these should become
undaunted confessors of the trutli, and others triumph
in fire and torture ; these things shall be matter of glory
to Christ in that day ; it was his power that gave them
courage and victory in martyrdom and death. Every
christian there, every soldier in that triumphing army,
shall ascribe his conquest to tlie grace of his Lord, his
leader, and lay down all their trophies at the feet of his
Saviour, with humble acknowledgments and shouts of
honor.
Almost all the saved number were, at some part of
their lives, weak in faith, and yet, by the grace of Christ
they held out to the end, and are crowned. ^^ I wa*
a poor trembling creature, shall one say, but I was
confirmed in my faith and holiness by the gospel of
Christ ; or I rested on a naked promise and found sup-
port, because Christ was there, and he shall have the
glory of it.^' In him are all the promises, yea, and in
him amen, to the glory of the Father ; 2 Cor. 1. SO, 2i,
22. And the Son shall share in this glory, for he died
to ratify these promises, and he lives to fulfil them.
^^Oh what an almighty arm is this (shall the believer
158 CHRIST ADMIRED AND
say) that has borne up so many thousands of poor sink-
ing creatures, and lifted their heads above the waves !''
The spark of grace that lived many years in a flood of
temptations, and was not quenched, shall then shine
bright to the glory of Christ who kindled and maintain-
ed it. When we have been brought through all the
storms and the threatening seas, and yet the raging waves
have been forbid to swallow us up, we shall cry out in
raptures of joy and wonder, ^^ What manner of man is
this, that the winds and the seas have obeyed him ?"
Then shall it be gloriously evident, that he has con-
quered Satan, and kept the hosts of hell in chains, when
it shall appear that he has made poor mean trembling
believers victorious over all the powers of darkness, for
the Prince of peace has hridsed him under their feet.
Fifthly. There is more work for our wonder and joy,
and more glory for our blessed Lord, when we shall see
that so many dark and dreadful providences were work-
ing together in mercy, for the good of the saints ; it is
because Jesus Christ had the management of them all
put in his hand ; and we shall acknowledge he has done
all things well ; Rom. viii. 28. All things have wrought
together for good. It is the voice of Christ to every
saint in sorrow, ivhat I do, thou knowest not now, hut
thou shall know hereafter ; John xii. 7« I saw not then
saith the christian, that my Lord was curing my pride,
by such a threatening and abasing providence, thai lie
was weaning my heart from sensual delights, by such a
sharp and painful wound ; but now I behold things in
another light, and give thanks and praises to my Divine
Physician.
We shall look back upon the hours of our impatience
and be ashamed ; we shall chide the flesh for its old re-
pinings, when we shall stand upon the eternal hills of
paradise, and cast our eyes back upon yonder transact-
ions of time, those past ages of complaint and infirmity.
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 159
We shall then, with pleasure and thankfulness, confess,
that the captain of our salvation was much in the right
to lead us through so many sufferings and sorrows, and
we were much in the wrong to complain of his conduct.
Bear up your spirits then, ye poor afflicted distressed
souls, who are wrestling through difficult providences
all in the dark. Bear up but a little longer, he that shall
come, will come, and will not tarry ; he will set all his
conduct in a fair light, and you shall say, "Blessed be
the Lord, and all his government.''
Sixthly. That heaven should he so well filled out of
such a hell of sin and misery as this world is, shall be
another delightful reflection full of wonder and glory.
Take a short survey of mankind, how all flesh has cor-
rupted its icays before God, and every imagination of
the thought of man's heart is only evil, and that continu-
ally ; there is none righteous, no not one. Look round
about you and see how iniquity abounds, violence, op-
pression, pride, lust, sensualities of all kinds, how they
reign among the children of men. Religion is lost, and
God forgotten in the world ; and yet, out of this wretch-
ed world Christ has provided inhabitants for heaven,
where nothing can enter that defileth. Look into your
own hearts, ye sinners, see what a hell lies there ; and
ye converts of the grace of Christ, look into your hearts
too, and see how many of the seeds of wickedness still
lie hid there ; how much corruption, and how little ho-
liness ; look inward, and wonder that Christ should
ever fit you for heaven, by his converting and his sanc-
tifying grace.
Look round the world again, and survey the miseries
of this earth ; as many calamities as there are creatures,
and perhaps ten times more. Who is there on earth
without his sorrows ? And sometimes a multitude of
them meet in one single sufferer. See how toil, and
weariness, and disappointment, poverty and sickness.
160 CHRIST ADMIRED AND
pain, anguish, and vexation, are distributed through
this world, that lies on the borders of hell. See all
this, and wonder at the grace of Christ, that has taken
a colony out of this miserable world, and made a
heaven of it.
We shall, many of us, be a wonder to each other as
well as to ourselves ; and we shall all review and ad-
mire the grace of Christ in and towards us all. Among
the rest, there are two sorts of christians whose salvation
shall be a special matter of wonder ; and these are the
melancJioly and the uncharitable. The melancholy
christian shall wonder that ever such a sinner as him-
self was brought to heaven ; and the uncharitable shall
wonder how such a sinner as his neighbor came there.
The poor, doubting, melancholy soul, who was full of
fears lest he should be condemned, shall then have full
assurance that he is elected and redeemed, pardoned
and saved, when he sees, hears, and feels the salvation
and the glory upon him, within him, and all around him ;
and he shall admire and adore the grace of God his
Saviour. The narrow souled christian, wlio said his
neighbor would be damned for want of some party no-
tions, or for some less failings, shall confess his unchar-
itable mistake, and shall wonder at the abounding mercy
of Christ, which has pardoned those errors in his
neighbor, for which he had excommunicated and con-
demned him. Both these christians in that day, I mean
the timorous and the censorious, shall stand at his right
hand, as monuments of his surprising grace, who forgave
one the defects of his faith, and the other his want of
love ; and their souls and their tongues shall join
together to rejoice in the Lord ; and their spirits shall
magnify tlieir God and Redeemer. Christ shall have
his due revenue of glory from both, in the hour of their
public salvation.
O what honor shall it add to the overflowing mercy
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. l6l
of Christ ! what joy and wonder to all the saints, to see
Paul, the persecutor and blasphemer there, and Peter,
who denied the Lord that bought him, and Mary Mag-
dalene, that impure sinner. See what a foul and shame-
ful catalogue, what children of iniquity are at last made
heirs and possessors of heaven ; 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, 11 5
the fornicators and idolaters ^ the thieves and the cov-
etouSy the drunkards, the revilers, and the extortioners.
Such they were in the days of ignorance and heathenism,
fit fuel for the fire of hell : and in those circumstances,
they are utterly excluded from the kingdom of God ;
but now they find a place in that blessed assembly ; and
the converting grace of Christ is admired and glorified,
that could turn such sinners into saints. O surprising
scene of rich salvation, when these Corinthian converts,
washed in the blood of Christ, and renewed by his
Spirit, shall appear in their white garments of holiness
and glory ! There is not one sinful creature to be found
in all the vast retinue of the holy Jesus. But there are
thousands who have been once great criminals, notorious
sinners, and have been snatched by the arm of divine
love, as brands out of the burning. What an affecting
sight will it be, when we shall behold all the members
of Christ united to their Head, and complete in glory,
and see at the same time, a world of vile sinners doomed
to destruction ! With what adoration and wonder
shall we cry out, and such were some of these happy
ones ; but they are sanctified, but they are justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God;
verse 11. JSTot unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but to
God our Saviour, be eternal honor.
In the seventh place. There is another glory and
wonder added to this illustrious scene, and gives honor
to our blessed Saviour ; and that is, that so many vig-
orous, beautiful, and immortal bodies, should be raised
at once out of the dust, with all their old infirmities left
31
163 CHRIST ADMIRED AND
behind them. Not one ache or pain, not one weakness
or disease, among all the glorified millions. As the
Israelites came out of their bondage in Egypt, so shall
the army of saints from the prison of the grave, and not
one feeble among them; Psalm cv. 37. This is the
work of Christ, the Creator and the Healer.
Here I might run many sorrowful divisions, and
travel over the large and thorny field of sickness and
pains, that attend human nature, those inborn mischiefs
that vex poor christians in this state of trial and suffer-
ing. But these were all buried when the body went to
the grave, and they are buried for ever ; he that has the
keys of death, shall let the bodies of his saints out of
prison , but no gout nor stone, no infirmity nor distem-
per, no head-ache nor heart-ache, shall ever attend them.
The body was soicn in iceakness, but it is raised in
'power ; it was sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory,
through the power of the second Adam and his quicken-
ing Spirit ; 1 Cor. xv. 43, 45 ; Rom. viii. 11.
Then shall Christ appear to be Sovereign and Lord
of death, when such an endless multitude of old and new
captives are released at his word, and the grave has
restored its prey ; when those bodies which have been
turned into dust some thousands of years, and their arms
scattered abroad by the winds of heaven, shall be raised
again in glory and dignity, to meet their descending
Lord in the air. Surely Jesus in that day shall be ac-
knowledged as a Sovereign of nature, when at the word
of his command, a new creation shall arise, all perfect
and immortal.
It will add yet further glory to Christ, when we re-
member wliat fruitful seeds of iniquity were lodged in
that flesh and blood, which we wore on eartli, and Avhich
we laid down in the tomb ; and when, at the same time,
we survey our glorified bodies, hov/ spiritual, how holy,
how happily fitted for the service of glorified souls made
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS, 163
perfect in holiness. How did all the saints once com-
plain of a law in their memhers, that warred against
the law of their minds, and brought them into bondage to
the law of sin ? but this law of sin is now for ever abol-
ished, this bondage dissolved and broken, and these
members are all new-created, for instruments of right-
eousness to serve God in his temple for ever and ever.
Holy Paul shall no more groan in a sinful tabernacle,
he shall no more complain of ihsii flesh wherein no good
dwelt, he shall cry out no more, " O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me ?"
Many and bitter have been the sorrows of a holy soul
in this world, because of the perverse dispositions of
animal nature and the flesh ; but none of the saints in
that assembly shall ever feel again the stings of inward
envy, the pricking thorns of peevishness, nor the wild
ferments of wrath and passion ; none of them shall ever
find those unruly appetites which wrought so strongly
in their old flesh and blood, and too often overpowered
their unwilling souls, those apjjetites which brought their
consciences sometimes under fresh guilt, and filled them
with inward reproaches and agonies of spirit. These
evil principles are all destroyed by death ; they are lost
in the grave, and shall have no resurrection. The new
raised bodies of the righteous in that day, shall be com-
pletely obedient to the dictates of their spirits, without
any vicious juices to make reluctance, or perverse
humors to raise an inward rebellion. And not only so,
but perhaps even our bodies shall have some active,
holy tendencies, wrought in them, so far as corporeal
nature can administer toward the sacred exercises of a
glorified saint. A sweet and blessed change indeed !
And Jesus, who raised these bodies in this beauty of
holiness, shall receive the glory of this divine work.
The last instance I shall mention, wherein Christ
shall be admired in his saints, is this j they shall all
164) CHRIST ADMIRED AND
appear in that day, as so many images of his 'person,
and as so many monuments of the success of his qfjice.
Is the blessed Jesus a great Prophet and the Teacher
of his church ? These are the persons that have learnt
his divine doctrine ; they have heard the joyful sound of
his gospel ; and the holy truths of it are copied out in
their hearts. These are the disciples of his school ; and
by his word, and by his spirit, they have been taught to
know God and their Saviour ; and they have been
trained up in the way to eternal life.
Is Jesus a great High Priest, both of sacrifice and in-
tercession ? Behold all these souls, an endless number,
purified from their defilements by the blood of his cross,
washed and made white in that blessed laver, and recon-
ciled to God by his atoning sacrifice. Behold the
power of his intercession, in securing millions from the
wrath of God, and in procuring for them every divine
blessing. He has obtained for each of them grace and
glory.
Is Jesus the Lord of all things, and the King of his
church? Behold his subjects waiting on him, a numer-
ous and a loyal multitude, who have the laws of their
King engraven on their souls. These are the sons and
daughters of Adam, whom he has rescued by his power
from the kingdom of darkness, and the hands of the
devil. He has guarded them from the rage of their
malicious adversaries in earth and hell, and brought
them safe through all difficulties, to behold the glories
of this day, and to celebrate the honors of their King.
Is he the Captain of salvation f See what a blessed
army he has listed under his banner of love : and they
have followed him through all the dangers of life and
time under his conduct. These are the chosen, the
called, the faithful. They have sustained many a sharp
conflict, many a dreadful battle ; and they are at last,
made more than conquerors through him that has loved
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. l65
them. They attribute all their victories to the wisdom,
the goodness, and the power of their divine Leader ;
and even stand amazed at their own success, against
such mighty adversaries. But they fought under the
banner, conduct, and influence of the Prince of life, the
King of righteousness, who is always victorious, and
has a crown in his hand for every conqueror.
Is Jesus the great example of his sai7its P Behold the
virtues and graces of the Son of God, copied out in all
his followers. Jls he was, so were they in this world,
holy, harmless, and undefiled, and separate from sinners.
As he now is, so are they ; glorious in holiness, and
divinely beautiful, while each of them reflects the image
of their blessed Lord, and they appear as wonders to ail
the beholding world. They were unknown here on earth,
even as Christ himself was unknown. This is the day
appointed to reveal their works and their graces. Jesus
is the brightness of his Father^s glory, and the express
image of his person ; and all the sons and daughters of
God shall then appear as so many pictures of the blessed
Jesus, drawn by the finger of tlie eternal Spirit.
And not their souls only, but their glorified bodies
also are framed in his likeness. What grace and
grandeur dwell in each countenance; as thou art, O
blessed Jesus, so shall they be in that day, all of them
resembling the children of a king ! Vigor and health,
beauty and immortality, shine and reign throughout all
that blessed assembly. The adopted sons and daughters
of God, resemble the original and only begotten Son.
Christ will have all his brethren and sisters conformed
unto his glories, that they may be known to be his
kindred, the children of his Father, and that he may ap-
pear the first born among many brethren. When the
Son of God breaks open the graves, he forms the dust of
his saints by the model of his own glorious aspect and
figure; and changes their vile bodies into the likeness of
166 CHRIST ADMIRED AND
his own glorious body, by that power tvher^hy he is able
to subdue all things to himself; Phil. iii. ult. He shall
be admired as the bright original, and each of the saints
as a fair and glorious copy. The various beauties that
are dispersed among all that assembly, are summed up
and united in liimself ; he is the chiefest often thousands,
and altogether lovely. One sun in the firmament can
paint his own bright image at once^ upon a thousand
reflecting glasses or mirrors of gold. What a dazzling
lustre would arise from such a scene of reflections ! But
what superior and inexpressible glory, above all the
powers of similitude, and beyond the reach of compar-
ison, shall irradiate the world in that day, when Jesus
the Sun of righteousness shall shine upon all his saints,
and find each of them well prepared to receive this lustre,
and to reflect it round the creation ; each of them dis-
playing the image of the original Son of God, and con-
fessing all their virtues and graces, all their beauties
and glories, both of soul and body, to be nothing else
but mere copies and derivations from Jesus, the first and
fairest image of tiie Father I
'USE.
The doctrines and the works of divine grace are full
of wonder and glory. Such is the person and offices of
Christ, such are his holy and faithful followers, and such
eminently will be the blessed scene at his appearance.
In the foregoing part of the discourse, we have briefly
surveyed some of those glorious wonders; we now come
to consider what use may be made of such a theme.
Use I. It gives us eminently these two lessons of in-
struction.
Lesson 1. How mistaken is the judgment of flesh and
sense, in the things that relate to Christ and his saints.
The Son of Grod himself was abused and scorned by
the blind world, they esteemed him as one smitten of
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 167
God and unheloved, and tJiey saiv no beauty nor comeli-
ness in him ; Isaiah liii. 33. He was poor and despis-
ed all his life, and he was doomed to the death of a
criminal and a slave. As for the saints, they find no
more honor or esteem among men than their Lord, they
are many times called and coi\ntQ,(\. the filth of the world,
and the off-scouring of all things ; 1 Cor. iv, 13. This
is the judgment of flesh and sense.
But when the great appointed hour is come, and Je-
sus shall return from heaven with a shout of the arch-
angel and the trump of God, when he shall call up his
saints from their bed of dust and darkness, and make
the graves resign those prisoners of hope, when they shall
all gather together around their Lord, a bright and nu-
merous army, shining and reflecting the splendors of his
presence, how will the judgment of flesh and sense be
confounded at once, and reversed with shame ! " Is tliis
the man that was loaded with scandal, that was buftetted
with scorn, and scourged and crucified in the land of
Judea? Is this the person that hung on the cursed
tree, and expired under agonies of pain and sorrow ?
Amazing sight ! How majestic, how divine his ap-
pearance ! The Son of God, and the King of Glory !
And are these the men that were made the mockery of
the world ? That wandered about in sheep-skins, and
goat-skins, in dens and caves of the earth ? Surprising
appearance ! How illustrious ! How full of glory !"
O that such a meditation might awaken us to judge more
by faith.
Lesson 2. The next lesson that we may derive from
the text is this, viz. One great design of the day of
judgment, is to advance and publish the glory of Christ.
He shall cofne on purpose to be glorified in his saints ;
the whole creation was made by him and for him ; tlie
transactions of providence, grace and justice, are man-
aged for his honor ; and the joyful and terrible affairs
168 CHRIST ADMIRED AND
of the day of judgment, are designed to display the
majesty and the power of Jesus the King, the wisdom
and equity of Jesus the Judge, and the grace and truth
of Jesus the Saviour. I will grant indeed, that the
appointment of this day is partly intended for the glory
of Christ, in the just destruction of the impenitent^ for he
will be glorified in pouring out the vengeance of his
Father upon rebellious sinners. " The Lord Jesus shall
be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in
flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not
God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his
power," ver, 7? 8, 9 ; before my text. But his sweet-
est and most valuable revenue of glory arises from
among his saints.
If the messengers of the churches are called the glory
of Christ, with all the weaknesses, and sins, and fol-
lies that attend the best of them here, as in 2 Cor. viii.
23, much more shall be his glory hereafter, when they
shall have no spot nor blemish found upon them, and
the work of Christ upon their souls has formed and fin-
ished them, in the perfect beauty of holiness. The
saints shall reflect glory on each other, and all of them
cast supreme lustre on Christ their head. The people
shall be the crown and glory of the minister in that day,
and the minister shall be the joy and glory of the people ;
and both shall be the crown, joy and glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ ; 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20; 2 Cor. i. 14; 2Thess.
i. 12 ; He shall appear high on a throne in the midst
of that bright assembly, and say, " Father, these are
the sheep that thou hast given me, in the counsels of
thine eternal love ; all these have I ransomed from hell
at the price of my own blood ; these have I rescued by
my grace, from the dominion of sin and the devil ; I
have formed them unto holiness, and fitted them for
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 169
heaven ; I have kept them by my power through all the
dangers of their mortal state, and have brought them
safe to thy celestial kingdom. Ml thine are minef and
all mine are thine ; 1 was glorified in them on earth.
John xvii. 10 ; and they are now my everlasting crown
and glory."
Then shall the unknown worlds that never fell,
worlds of angels and innocent creatures, and the world
of guilty devils and condemned rebels, stand and won-
der together, at the recovery and salvation Christ has
provided for the fallen sons of Adam. They shall stand
amazed to see the millions of apostate creatures, the
iniiabitants of this earthly globe, recovered to their duty
and allegiance by the Son of Grod, going down to dwell
amongst them ; millions of impure and deformed souls
restored to the divine image, and made beautiful as
angels, by the grace and Spirit of our Lord Jesus.
Those spectators shall be filled with admiration and
transport, to see such a multitude of criminals pardoned
and justified for the sake of a righteousness, which they
themselves never wrought, and accepted as righteous in
the sight of God, by a covenant of grace, unknown to
other worlds, and by faith in the great Mediator. They
shall wonder to see such an innumerable company of
polluted wretches washed from their sins, in so precious
a laver as the blood of Gcd's own Son. And he that
hung upon the cross as a spectacle of wretchedness at
Jerusalem, shall entertain the superior and inferior
worlds with the sight of his adorable and divine glories,
and the spoils he has brought from the regions of death
and hell. Thus to the principalities ar.d powers in
heavenly places^ shall be made known hy the church tri-
umphant, the manifold wisdom., and the manifold grace
of God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ ; Eph. iii. 10.
But tremble, O ye obstinate and impenitent wretches,
ye sensual sinners, ye infidels of a christian name and
S3
170 eHRIST ADMIRED AND
nation, Christ will be glorified in you one way or
another. If your hearts are not bowed and melted to
receive his gospel, you shall be jnmished with everlast-
ing destruction among those that know not God, and
obey not the gospel of his Son.
Tremble, ye sensual and ye profane sons of iniquity,
when ye remember this day, when ye shall see the holy
souls that ye scorned, with crowns on their heads, and
palms in their hands, with the shout of victory, and joy
on their tongues, and the God-man whom ye despised,
and whose grace ye neglected, shining at the head of
that bright assembly.
Tremble, ye infidels, ye despisers of the name of a
crucified Christ ; behold his cross is become a throne,
and his crown of thorns a crown of glory. See the man
w hom ye have scorned and reproached, at the head of
millions of angels, and adored by ten thousand times ten
thousand saints, while wicketl princes and captains,
armies and nations of sinners, wait their doom from his
mouth, nor dare hope for a word of his mercy. O make
haste, and come and be reconciled to him, and to God by
him, that ye may belong to that blessed assembly, tliat
ye may bear a part in the triumphs of that day, and
that Christ may be glorified in your recovery from the
very borders of damnation.
This thought leads me to the next use.
II. This discourse gives rich encouragement to the
greatest sinners to hope for mercy , and to the weakest
saints to hope for victory and salvation. Such sort of
subjects of the grace of Christ, shall yield him some of
the brightest rays of glory at the last day. Yet, siiuiers,
let me charge you here, never to hope for this happiness
without solemn repentance, and an entire change of heart
unto holiness ; for an indioly soul would be a fearful
blemish in tliat assembly, and a disgi'ace to our Lord
Jesus. Christians; I would charge you also, never to
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. I7I
hope for the happiness of this day, without battle and
conquest, for all the members of that assembly must be
overcomers. But where there is a hearty desire and
longing after grace and salvation, let not the worst of
sinners despair, nor the weakest believer let go his hope ;
for it is such as you and I are, in whom Christ will be
magnified in that day.
Believe this, O thou humbled and convinced sinner,
who complainest thy heart is hard, though tliou wouldest
fain repent and mourn ; who fearest the bonds of thy cor-
ruptions are so strong, that they shall never be broken ;
believe that the sovereign grace of Christ has designed
to exalt itself in the sanctification of such unholy souls
as thou art, and in melting such hard hearts as thine.
And thou poor trembling soul, that wouldest fain trust in
a Saviour, but art afraid, because of the greatness of thy
guilt, and thine abounding iniquities, believe this, that
where sin has abounded,, grace has much more abounded.
It is from the bringing such sinners as thou art to heaven,
that the choicest revenues of glory shall arise to our
Lord Jesus Christ; and thy acclamations of joy and
honor to the Saviour, shall, perhaps, be loudest in that
day, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints^ and
admired in them that believe.
Kead 1 Tim. i. 13, 14, 15, and 16 ; and see there
what an account the great apostle gives of his own con-
version ; " I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and
injurious, yet I obtained mercy ; and the grace of our
Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which
is in Jesus Clmst." Now I am sent to publish and
preach to blasphemers and persecutors, that ^^this is a
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; of whom I
am cliief. Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy,
that in me first, Jesus Christ might shew forth all long
i*;l% CHRIST ADMIRED AND
suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on liim to life everlasting.
Turn to another text, ye feeble believers, % Cor. xii.
9, 10 ; there you shall find tlie same apostle a convert
and a christian ; but too weak to conflict with the mes-
senger of satan tliat buffetted him, nor able to release
himself from that sore temptation that lay heavy upon
him ; but having received a word from Christ, that his
grace was sufficient, and that his strevgth urns to shine
perfect in glory in the midst of our weakness, the apostle
encourages himself to a joyful hope. Now, says he, I
can even glory in my infirmities, so far as they are
without sin, that the power of Christ may rest upon me ;
when 1 am weak in myself, / am strong in the Lord.
Are not the most diseased patients the chief honors of
the physician that hath healed them? And must not
these appear eminently in that day, when he displays to
the sight of the world the noblest monuments of his
healing power ? When cripples and invalids gain the
victory over mighty enemies, is not the skill and conduct
of their leader most admired ? You are the persons
then, in whom Christ will be glorified : be of good cheer,
receive his offered grace, and wait for his salvation.
III. The next use I shall make of this discourse, is
to diaw a word of advice from it. Learn to despise those
honors and ornaments in this ivorld, in which Christ
shall have no share in the world to come. I do not say,
cast them all away, for many tilings are needful in tliis
life, that can liave no immediate regard to the other ; but
learn to despise them, and set light by tliem, because
they reach no further than time, and shall be forgotten m
eternity. Never put tiie higher esteem on yourselves or
your neighbors, because of the gay glitterings of silk or
silver; nor let these employ your eyes and your thouglits
in the time of worsliip, wlien the things of the future
world sliould fill up all youi' attention j nor let them eu-
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. 1^3
tertain your tongues in your friendly visits, so as to
exclude the discourse of divine ornaments, and the glo-
rious appearance of our Lord Jesus.
When I am to put on my best attire, let me consider,
if I am hung round with jewels and gold, these must
perish before that solemn day, or melt in the last great
burning ; they can add no beauty to me in that assembly.
If I put on love, and faith, and humility, I shall shine in
these hereafter, and Christ shall have some rays of glory
from them. O may your souls and mine be drest in
those graces which are ornaments of great prize in the
sight of God ! 1 Pet. iii. 3, 4. Such as may command
the respect of angels, and reflect honor upon Christ in
that solemnity !
I confess we dwell in flesh and blood, and human
nature in the best of us is too much imprest by things
sensible. When we see a train of human pomp and
grandeur, and long ranks of shining garments and equi-
page, it is ready to dazzle our eyes, and attract our
hearts : vain pomp, and poor equipage, all this, when
compared with the triumph of our blessed Lord, at his
appearance with an endless army of his holy ones ; where
every saint shall be vested (not in silks and gold) but in
robes of refined light, out-shining the sun, such as Christ
himself wore in the mount of transfiguration. Millions
of suns in one fiimament of glory. Think on that day,
and the illustrious retinue of our Lord. Think on that
splendor that shall attract the eyes of heaven and earth,
shall confound the proud sinner, and astonish the in-
habitants of hell. Such a meditation as this will cast a
dim shadow over the brightest appearances of a court,
or a royal festival ; it will spread a dead coloring over
all the painted vanities of this life ; it will damp every
thought of rising ambition and earthly pride, and we
shall have but little heart to admke or wish for any of
the vain shows of mortality. Methinks every gaudy
174 CHRIST ADMIRED AND
scene of the present life, and all the gilded honors of
courts and armies, should grow faint, and fade away, and
vanish, at the meditation of this illustrious appearance.
TV. This text will give us also two hints of caution.
First. You that are rich in this world^ or wise, or
mighty, dare not ridicule nor scoff at those poor weak
christians in whom Christ shall be admired and glorified
in the last day. You that fancy you have any advantages
of birth or beauty, of mind or body liere on earth, dare
not make a jest of your poor pious neighbor that wants
them, for he is one of those persons whom Christ calls
his glory ; and he himself has given you warning, lest
you incur his resentment on this account ; Mat. xviii. 6 ;
^' Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which be-
lieve in me, it were better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the
depth of the sea." Perhaps the good man has some
blemish in his outward form, or it may be his countenance
is dejected, or his mien and figure awkward and un-
comely ; perhaps his garments sit wrong and unfash-
ionable upon him, or it may Ije they hang in tatters ; the
motions of his body perhaps are ungraceful, his speech
improper, and his deportment simple and unpolished; but
he has shining graces in his soul, in which Christ shall be
admired in the last day, and how darest thou make him
thy laughing-stock? Wilt thou be willing to hear thy
scornful jest repeated again at that day, when the poor
derided christian has his robes of glory on, and the Judge
of all shall acknowledge him for one of his favorites ?
The second hint of caution is this ; You that shall be
the glory of Christ in that day, dare not do any thing
that may dishonor him noiv. Walk answerable to your
character and your hope, nor indulge the least sinful
defilement. Say within yourselves, " Am I to make
one in that splendid retinue of my Lord, Avhere every
one must appear in robes of holiness, and shall I spot
GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS. lyg
my garments with the flesh ? When I am provoked to
anger and indignation, let me say, doth wrath and blus-
ter become a follower and an attendant of the meek and
peaceful Jesus? When I am tempted to pride and vanity
of mind, will this be a beauty, or a blemish to that as-
sembly that shines in glorious humility ? Or perhaps I
am wavering, and ready to yield, and become a captive
to some foolish temptation ; but how then can I expect
a place in that holy triumpli, which is appointed for none
but conquerors ? And how shall I be able to look my
blessed General in the face on that day, if I prove a
coward under his banner, and abandon my profession of
strict holiness, at the demand of a sinful and threatening
world ?-'
Y. Tlie last use I .shall make of the text, is matter of
consolation and joy to two sorts of christians.
First. To the jpoor, mean, and despised followers of
Christ, and in whom Christ himself is despised by the
ungodly world ; read my text, and believe that in you
Christ shall be gloriiied and admired, when, with a
million of angels, he shall •descend from heaven, and
make his last appearance upon earth ; mean as you are
in your own esteem, because of your ignorance and your
weakness in this world, you shall be one of the glories
of Christ in the world to come ; little and despicable as
you are in the esteem of proud sinners, they shall behold
your Lord exalted on his throne, and you sitting among
the honors at his right hand, while they shall rage afar
off, and gnash their teeth at your glory ; when the eye
of faith is open, it can spy this bright hour at a distance,
and bid the mourning christian rejoice in hope.
Secondly. There is comfort also in my text, to those
who mourn for the dishonor of Christ in the world ; those
lively members of the mystical body who sympathise
with the blessed Head, under all the reproaches tliat are
cast upon him and his gospel, who groan under the load
176 CHRIST ADMIRED, See
of scandal that is thrown upon Christ in an infidel age,
as though it were personally thrown upon themselves.
It is matter of lamentation indeed, that there are but few
of this sort of clu'istians in our day, few that love our
Lord Jesus with such tenderness ; but if such tliere be
among you, open your eyes, and look forward to this
glorious day. This day, to which Enoch, the first of all
the prophets, and John, the last of all the apostles, di-
rects our faith ; Jude 14, 15 ; Rev. i. 7- " Behold, the
Lord Cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute
judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly
among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have
ungodly committed, and of all the hard speeches, which
ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Behold, he
Cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall see him, and
they also which pierced him. And all kindreds of the
earth shall wail because of him." Bear up your hearts,
ye mourners, and support your hopes with the promise
of oiu' Lord. ^' Again, a little while and ye shall see
me 5 ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the throne of
his glory;" Matt. xxv. 3il. "Then shall your heart
rejoice in his lionors and in your own, and this joy no
man taketli from you ;" John xvi. 19? 22. And while he
repeats this promise with his last words in the Bible,
surely I come quickly, let every soul of us echo to the
voice of our beloved 5 amen. Even so come Lord Jesus.
DISCOUHSE V.
THE WRATH OF THE LAMB.
REV. vi. 15, 16, 17-
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the
rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bond-man, and every free-man, hid them-
selves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains ;
and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and
hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of
his wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand.
WHEN some terrible judgment, or execution of
divine vengeance is denounced against an age or a na-
tion, it is sometimes described in the language of pro-
phecy, by a resemblance to the last and great judgment-
day, when all mankind shall be called to account for
their sins, and the just and final indignation of God
shall be executed upon obstinate and unrepenting crimi-
nals. The discourse of our Saviour in the xxivth of
Matthew, is an eminent example of this kind, where
the destruction of the Jewish nation is predicted, together
with the final judgment of the world, in such uniform
language, and similar phrases of speech, that it is diffi-
cult to say, whether both these scenes of vengeance run
through the whole discourse, or which part of the dis-
course belongs to the one, and which to the other. The
same manner of prophecy appears in this text.
Learned interpreters suppose these words to foretel
the universal consternation which was found amongst
the heathen idolaters and persecutors of the church of
178 THE WRATH OF THE LAMB.
Christ, when Constantine, the first christiau Emperor,
was raised to the throne of Rome, and became governor
of the world. But whether they hit upon the proper
application of this prophecy or not, yet still it is pretty
evident, that this scene of terror is borrowed from the
last judgment, which will eminently appear to be the day
of wrath, as it is called ; Rom. ii. 5. It is the great day
of divine indignation, in so eminent a manner, that all
the tremendous desolations of kingdoms and people?
from the creation of the world, to the consummation of
all things, shall be but as shadows of that day of terror
and vengeance.
1 shall therefore consider these words at present, as they
contain a solemn representation of that last glorious and
dreadful day ; and here I shall enquire particularly.
1. Who are the persons whose aspect and appearance
shall then be so dreadful to sinners ? 2. How comes the
wrath which discovers itself at that time to be so formi-
dable ? and 3. How vain will all the shifts and hopes
of sinners be, in that dreadful day, to avoid the wrath
and vengeance.
First. Who are the persons that appear clothed in so
much terror ?
Answer. It is he that sits ujwn the throne, and the
Lamb. It is God the Father of all, the great and Al-
mighty Creator, the supreme Lord and Governor of the
world, and the Lamb of God, that is, onr Lord Jesus
Christ, his Son, dwelling in human nature, to whom the
Judgment of the world is committed, and by whom the
Father will introduce the terrible and the illustrious
scenes of that day, and manage the important and eter-
nal affairs of it. It is by these names that tlie apostle
John, in this prophetical book, describes God the Father,
and his Son Jesus ; Rev. iv. 10, and v. 6 — 13.
If it be enquired, why God the Father is described as
the person sitting on the throne, this is plainly agreea-
THE WRATH GF THE LAMB 1^9
ble to the other representations of him throughout the
scripture, where he is described as first and supreme in
authority, as sitting on the throne of majesty on high, as
denoting and commissioning the Lord Jesus, his well-
beloved Son; to act for him, and as placing him on his
tlirone, to execute his works of mercy or vengeance ;
Rev. iii. 2i. ^'Ht that overcometh shall sit down with
me on my throne, saith our Saviour, even as I have over-
come, and am set down with the Father on his throne f
John V. 22—27. "The Father hath committed all judg-
ment into the hands of the Son/^ It is true, the Grod-
head or divine essence is but one, and it is the same
Godhead which belongs to the Father that dwells in the
Son, and in this respect Christ and the Father are one,
he is in the Father, and the Father in him ; John x.
30, 38 ; yet the Father is constantly exhibited in scrip-
ture, with peculiar characters of prime authority, and
the Son is represented as receiving all from the Father ;
John V. 19,20,22,26,27.
If it be farther enquired, why Christ is called the
Lamh of God, I shall not pursue those many fine meta-
phors and similes, in which the wit and fancy of men
have run a long course on this subject ; but shall only
mention these two things.
1. He is called the Lamb, from the innocence of his
behavior, the quietness and meekness of his disposition
and conduct in the world. The character of Jesus,
among men, was peaceful, and harmless, and patient of
injuries ; when he was reviled, he reviled not again, but
was led as a lamb to the slaughter, with submission, and
without revenge. This resemblance appears, and is
set forth to view in several scriptures, wherein he is
compared to this gentle creature ; Acts viii. 32 ; 1 Pet.
ii. 23.
2. He is called the Lamb, because he was appointed
a sacrifice for the sins of men ; John 1. 29. "Behold
180 THE WRATH OP THE LAMB.
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the
world ;" 1 Pet. 1. 18, 19 ; " You were redeemed with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blem-
ish, and without spot." It was a lamb that was or-
dained for the constant daily sacrifice amongst the Jews,
morning and evening, to typify the constant and ever-
lasting influence of the atonement made by the death of
Christ ; Heb. x. 11, 12. It was a lamb which was
sacrificed at the passover, and on which the families of
Israel feasted, to commemorate their redemption from
the slavery of Egypt, and to typify Christ who is our
passover, who was sacrificed for us, and for whose sake
the destroying angel spares all that trust in him ; 1 Cor.
V. 7.
But will a lamb discover such dreadful wrath ? Has
the Lamb of God such indignation in him ? Can the
meek, the compassionate, the merciful Son of God, put
on such terrible forms and appearances ? Are his ten-
der mercies vanished quite away, and will he renounce
the kind aspect, and the gentle language of a lamb for
ever ?
To this I answer, that the various glories and offices
of our blessed Lord, require a variety of human meta-
phors and emblems to represent them. He was a Lamb,
full of gentleness, meekness, and compassion, to invite
and encourage sinful perishing creatures, to accept of
divine mercy. But he has now to deal with obstinate
and rebellious criminals, who renounce his Father's
mercy, and resist all the gentle methods of his own
grace and salvation. And he is sent by the Father to
punish those rebellions, but he is named tJie Lamb of
God still, to put the rebels in mind what gentleness and
compassion they have affronted and abused, and to make
it appear that their guilt is utterly inexcusable.
Let us remember, Christ is now a Lamb, raised to
the throne in heaven, and furnished and armed with
THE WRATH OP THE LAMB. 181
seven eyes and seven horns, with perfect knowledge and
perfect power, to govern the world, to vindicate his own
honor, and to avenge himself upon his impenitent and
obstinate enemies ; Rev. v. 5, 6. Here the Lamb will
assume the name of the Lio7i of the tribe of Judah also,
and he must act in different characters, according to tlie
persons he has to deal with.
The second general question which we are to consider
is, How comes the wrath of that great day to be so ter-
rible P
I answer in general, because it is not only the wrath
of God, but of the Lamb. It is the wrath that is mani-
fested for the affronts of divine authority, and the abuse
of divine mercy. It is wrath that is awakened by
the contempt of the laws of God, written in tlje books of
nature and scripture, and for the contempt of his love
revealed in the gospel by Jesus Christ.
It is proper to observe here, that the ivrath of God,
and the wrath of the Lamb, are not to be conceived as
exactly the same, for it is the wrath of the Son of God
in his human nature exalted, as well as the displeasure
of God the Father. It is the righteous and holy resent-
ment of the man Jesus, awakened and let loose against
rebellious creatures, that have broken all the rules of
his Father's government, and have refused all the pro-
posals of his Father's grace. It is the wrath of the
highest, the greatest, and the best of creatures, joined to
the wrath of an offended creator.* Eut let us enter a
little into particulars.
* Here let it be observed, that when the holy scripture speaks of the -wrath
and indignation of the blessed God, we are not to understrnd it as though God
were subject to such passions or affections of nature, as we feel fermenting'
or working within om-selves when our anger rises ; but because the justice
or rectoral wisdom of God inclines him to bring natural evil, pain or sorrow,
upon those who are obstinately guilty of moral evil or sin, and to treat them as
anger or wrath inclines men to treat those that have offended them ; there-
fore the scripture speaking after the manner of men, calls it, the -wrath and
indignation of God.
183 THE WUATH OF THE LAMB.
1. It is righteous wratli, and just and deserved ven^
^eance^Wmi arises from the clearest discoveries of the love
of God neglected, and the sweetest messages of divine
grace refused. All the former discoveries of the love
of God to men, both in nature and providence, as well
as by divine revelation, whether made by men, or by
angels, whether in the days of the patriarchs, or in the
days of Moses and the Jews, were far inferior to the
grace which was revealed by Jesus Christ ; and there-
fore the sin of rejecting it is greater in proportion, and
the punishment will be more severe. If the ivord sjwken
by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and dis-
obedience received a just recompence of reward, — how
shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, as this
which began to be spohen by our Lord ? Heb. ii. 2, 3.
Moses had many true discoveries of grace made to
him, and entrusted with him for sinful men. Bu^ the
scripture saith, John i. 17 ; The law came by Moses, and
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ ; that is, in sucii
superabundance, as though grace and truth had never
appeared in the world before. The forgiving mercy of
God, under the veil of ceremonies and sacrifices, and the
mediation of Ciirist, under the type of the high Priest,
was but a dark and imperfect discovery, in comparison
of the free, the large, the full forgiveness, which is
brought to us by the gospel of Christ. Learn this doc-
trine at large, from Heb. x. 1 — 14. This is amazing
mercy, astonishing grace ; and the despisers of it will
deserve to perish with double destruction, for they wink
their eyes against clearer light,«and reject the offers of
more abounding love.
And it is liard to say, whether or no the 7vrath of the Lamb, that is, of the
man Christ Jesus, in whom Godhead dwells, be any thing more, than tlie
calm, dispassionate, rectoral wisdom of the human nature of Christ, inclin-
ing him to punish rebellious and impenitent sinners, in confurmity,to the will
of God his Father, or in concurrence jwith the Godhead which dwells in him-
THE WRATH OP THE LAMB. 18B
2. It is wrath that is awakened by the most precious
and most expensive methods of salvation slighted and
undervalued. Well may Grod say to christian nations,
especially to Great Britain, who sits under the daily
sound of this gospel, *^' What could I have done more
for you than I have done ? Isaiah v. 4. I have sent my
own Son, the Son of my hosom, the Son of my eternal
love, to take flesh and blood upon him, that he might
be able to die in your stead, who were guilty rebels,
and deserved to die : I have given him up to the insults
and injuries of men, to the temptations, the buifettings,
and rage of devils, to the stroke of the sword of my jus-
tice, to the cursed death of the cross for you ; here is
heaven and salvation purchased for man, with the dear-
est and most valuable life in all the creation, with the
richest blood that ever ran in the veins of a creature, with
the life and blood of the Son of God ; and yet you re-
fused to receive and accept of this salvation, procured
af so immense a price. I called you to partake of this
invaluable blessing freely, ivithout money and without
price, and yet you slighted all these offers of mercy ;
what remains but that my wrath should kindle against
you in the hottest degree, and fill your souls with ex-
quisite anguish and misery ; you have refused to accept
of a covenant which was sealed with the blood of my
own Son, which was confirmed by miraculous operations
of my own Spirit ; you have valued your sinful pleas-
ures, and the trifles of this vain world, above the blood
of my Son, and the life of your souls. It is divinely
proper that divine vengeance should be your portion,
who have rejected such rich treasures of divine love.'''
Hebrews x. ^8 — 31. ^' He that despised Moses law, died
without mercy, under two or three witnesses ; of how
much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God,
and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith
184? THE WRATH OF THE LAMB.
he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done des-
pite unto the spirit of grace? For we know him that
hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will repay,
saith the Lord."
3. It is wrath that must avenge the affronts and in-
juries done to the prime tninister of God's government,
and the chief messenger of his mercij. All the Patri-
archs, and the Prophets, and Angels themselves, were
but servants to bring messages of divine grace to men,
and som€ of them in awful forms and appearances, rep-
resented the authority of God too. But the Son of God
is the prime minister of bis government, and the noblest
ambassador of his grace, and the chief deputy or vicege-
rent in his Father's kingdom ; See Heb. i. 1, S ; Psalms
ii. 6, 9, IS. His Father's glory and grandeur, compas-
sion and love, are most sublimely exhibited in the face
of Christ his Son, and God will not have his highest
and fairest image disgraced and affronted, without pe-
culiar and signal vengeance.
The great God will vindicate the honors of his Son
Jesus, in tlie infinite destruction of a rebellious and un-
believing world. And the Son himself hath wrath and
just resentment ; he will vindicate his own authority,
and his commission of grace. He hath a rod of iron
put into his hands, as v/ell as a sceptre of mercy, and
with this rod will he break to pieces rebellious nations ;
Rev. iii. latter end. Is it not fit that the first minister
of the empire of the king of heaven, and the brightest
image of his majesty and of his love, sliould appear
always in the character of a Lamb, a meek and unre-
senting creature. He will put on the Lion when his
commission of grace is ended. He is the Lion of the
tribe of Judah ; Rev v. 5 ; and will rend the caul of the
heart of those unrepenting sinners, who have resisted
his authority and abused his love.
And how will the wrath of the Lamb of God penetrate
THE WRATH OF THE LAMB 185
the soul of sinners with intense anguish, when the meek
and the compassionate Jesus, shall be commissioned and
constrained to speak the language of resentment and
divine indignation?
^^ Did you not hear of me, sinners, in yonder world^
which lies weltering in flames? Did you not read of
me in the gospel of my grace ? Did you not learn my
character and my salvation in the ministrations of my
word ? Were you not told that I was appointed to be
a Saviour of a lost world, and a minister of divine mercy
to men ? And was there not abundant evidence of it by
miracles and prophecies ? Were you not told I was
exalted after my suflPerings, to the right hand of God, on
purpose to bestow repentance and remission of sins ?
Acts V. 31. And were you not informed also, that I
had a rod of iron given me, to dash rebels to death ?
Psalm ii. What is the reason you never came to me,
or submitted to my government, or accepted of my grace ?
Did you never hear of the threatenings that stood like
drawn swords, against those who wilfully refuse this
mercy ? Did you think these were mere bugbears, mere
sounding words to frighten chikken with, and harmless
thunder that would never blast you? Did you think
these flashes of wrath in my word, were such sort of
lightenings as you might safely play with, and flame
that would never burn ? What punishments, think you^
do you deserve, first for the abuse of my authority, and
then for the wilful and obstinate refusal of my grace ?
Is it not divinely fit and proper, my wrath should awake
against such heinous criminals ? Where is any proper
object for my resentment, if you are not made objects
of it ? Take them, angels, bind them hand and foot, and
cast them into utter darkness. Let them be thrown
headlong into the prison of hell, where fire and brim-
stone burn unquenchably, where light, and peace, and
hope can newer come. Let them be rnislied with the
186 THE WRATH OF THE LAMB
rod of iron, which the Father hath put into my hands,
as the first minister of his kingdom, as the avenger of
his despised grace."
4. It is a wrath that is excited hy a final and utter re-
jection of the last proposals of divine love. When mercy
was offered to men by the blessed God at first, the dis-
coveries were more dark and imperfect ; there were still
further discoveries to be made in following ages ; there-
fore the crime and guilt of sinners in those former days,
was much less than the crime and guilt of those who
reject this last proposal of mercy. There is no further
edition of the covenant of grace, for those who refuse
this offer. Those who neglect Christ, as he is set forth
in the gospel to be a sacrifice for sin, there remains no
more sacrifice for them, but a certain fearful expectation
of vengeance and fiery indignation, tchich shall consume
the adversary ; Heb. 10. 26, 28.
All the former dispensations of grace are contained
eminently, and completed in this dispensation of the
gospel. Grod can send no greater messenger than his
own Son ; and he concludes and finishes the whole
scene and period of grace, with the gospel of Christ.
There remains nothing but wrath to the uttermost, for
those who have abused this last offer of mercy. This
was exemplified in the destruction of Jerusalem and the
Jews, a little after they had put Christ to death, and
rejected the salvation which he proposed ; and this
wrath will be more terribly glorified in the final destruc-
tion of every sinner that wilfully rejects the glad tidings
of this salvation.
5. It is such wrath as arises from the patience of a
God, tired and worn out by the boldest iniquities of men,
and by a final perseverance in their rebellions. It is
the character and glory of God, to be long-svjfering, and
slow to anger ; Exod. xxxiv. 6 ; The Lord God merci-
ful and gracious, long-sufferirig, and abundant in good-
THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 187
ness and truth; and Jesus his Son, is the minister of
this his patience, and the intercessor for this delay of
judgment and vengeance. He is represented as inter-
ceding one year after another, for the reprieve of obsti-
nate sinners ; and at his intercession, God the Father
waits to he gracious. But God will not wait and delay,
and keep silence for ever ; nor will Jesus for ever plead.
Psalm. 1. 1, 3, 21, 23 ; Consider this, ye that forget
God, lest he tare you in pieces, and there he none to
deliver, God will say then to obstinate sinners, as he
did to the Jews of old ; Jer. xv. 5, 6 ; J will stretch out
my hand against thee and destroy thee ; I am weary of
repenting ; and even the abused patience of Jesus the
Saviour, shall turn into fury, when the day ofrecompence
shall come, and the day of vengeance which is in his
heart ; Isaiah Ixiii. 1, 4.
O let each of us consider, " How long have I made
the grace of God wait on me ? How many messages of
peace and pardon have I neglected ? How many years
have I delayed to accept of this salvation, and made
Jesus wait on an impenitent rebel, with the commission
of mercy in his hand, while I have refused to receive it ?
Let my soul be this day awakened to lay hold of the
covenant of grace, to submit to the gospel of Christ, lest
to-morrow the days of his commission of mercy toward
me expire, lest the patience of a God be finished, lest
the abused love of a Saviour turn into fury, and nothing
remains for me but unavoidable destruction.''
6. It is a sentence of divine wrath, which shall he at-
tended with the fullest conviction of sinners, and self-
condemnation in their own consciences. This doubles
the sensations of divine wi'ath, and enhances the anguish
of the criminal to a high degi'ee.
This final unbelief and rejection of grace, is a sin
against so much light, and so much love, that however
men chejit their consciences now, and charm tliem into
188 THE WRATH OF THE LAMB.
silence, yet at the last gi'eat day, their own consciences
shall be on the side of the Judge, when he pronounces
wrath and damnation upon them. What infinite terrors
will shake the soul, when there is not one of its own
thoughts can speak peace within ? When all its own
inward powers shall echo to the sentence of the Judge,
and acknowledge the justice and equity of it for ever.
O who can express the agonies of pain and torture^
when the impenitent sinner shall be awakened into such
reflections as these ? ^^ I was placed in a land of light and
knowledge ; the light of the gospel of grace shone
all around me | but I winked my eyes against the light,
and now I am plunged into utter and eternal darkness.
I was convinced often that I was a sinner, and in danger
of death and hell ; I was convinced of the truth of the
gospel, and the all-sufficiency of the salvation of Christ ;
but I loved the vanities of this life, I followed the appe-
tites of the flesh, and the delusive charms of a tempting
world, I delayed to answer to the voice of providence,
and the voice of mercy, the voice of the gospel, inviting
me to this salvation, and the voice of Christ requiring me
to be saved. My own heart condemns me with ten
thousand reproaches. How righteous is God in his in-
dignation ! How just is the resentment of the Lamb of
God in this day of his wrath ! What clear and con-
vincing and dreadful equity attends the sentence of my
condemnation, and doubles the anguish of my soul ?"
7- It is such wrath as slmll he executed immediately
and eternally, icithout one hour of reprieve, and without
the least hope of mercy, and that through all the ages to
come. For though Jesus is tlje Mediator between God and
man, to reconcile those to God who have broken his law,
there is no Mediator appointed to reconcile those sinners
to Christ, when they have finally resisted the grace of
his gospel. There is no blood nor death that can atone
foi* the final rejection of the blood of this dying Saviour.
THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 189
If we resist Jesus Christ the Lord, and his atonement,
and his sacrifice, his gospel and his salvation, there re-
mains no more atonement for us. Let us consider each
of these circumstances apart, and dwell a little on these
terrors, that our hearts may be affected with them.
1. This wrath shall be executed immediately, for the
time of reprieve is come to an end. Here divine wisdom
and justice have set the limits of divine patience, and
they reach no further.
2. It is wrath that shall be executed without mercy,
because the day and hour of mercy is for ever finished.
That belongs only to this life. The day of gi'ace is
gone for ever. He that once made them, will now have
no mercy upon them ; and he that formed them, will shew
them no favor ; Isa. xxvii. H. The very mercy of the
Mediator, the compassion of the Lamb of God, is turned
into wrath and fury. The Lamb himself has put on the
form of a Lion, and there is no Redeemer or advocate to
speak a word for them who have finally rejected Jesus,
the only Mediator, worn out the age of his pity, and
provoked his wrath as well as his Father's.
3. It is wrath without end, for their souls are immor-
tal, their bodies are raised to an immortal state, and their
whole nature being sinful, and miserable, and immortal,
they must endure a wretched and miserable immortality.
This is the representation of the book of God, even of the
New Testament ; and I have no commission from God,
either to soften these words of terror, or to shorten the
term of their misery.
REMARKS OX THIS DISCOURSE.
Remark 1. What a wretched mistake is it to imagine
the great God is nothing else but mercy, and Jesus
Christ is nothing else but love and salvation. It is true,
God has more mercy than we can imagine ; his love is
boundless in many of its exercises j and Jesus his Son,
190 THE WRATH OP THE LAMB.
who is the image of the Father, is the fairest image of
his love and grace. His compassions have heights and
depths, and leiigths and breadths in them, that pass all
our knowledge ; Eph. iii. 18. But God is a universal
Sovereign, a wise and righteous Governor. There is
majesty with him as well as grace ; and Jesus is the
Lord of lords, and King of kings. He bears the image
of his Father's justice, as well as of his Father's love ;
otlierwise he could not be the full brightness of his
glory, nor the express image of his person.
And besides, the Father hath armed him with powers
of divine vengeance, as well as with powers of mercy
and salvation. Psalm ii. 9 ; He has put the rod of iron
into his hand, to dash the nations like a potters vessel.
Rev. ii. 27, and xix. 13 ; He is the elect and precious
corner stone laid in Zion ; 1 Pet. ii. 6. But he is a
stone that will bruise those who stumble at him, and those
on whom he shall fall, he will grind them to powder;
Matt. xxi. 43. He is a Lamb and a Lion too. He can
suflFer at Jerusalem and mount Calvary, with silence, and
not opeyi his mouth ; and he can roar from heaven with
overspreading terror, and shake the world with the
sound of his anger. See that his mercy be not abused.
Remark 2. The day of Chnsfs patience makes haste
to an end. Every day of neglected grace hastens on the
hour of his wrath and vengeance. Sinners waste their
months and years in rebellion against his love, while he
waits months and years to be gracious : but Christ is all-
wise, and he knows the proper period of long-suflPering,
and the proper moment to let all his wrath and resent-
ment loose, on obstinate and unreclaimable sinners. Oh
may every one of our souls awake to faith and repent-
ance, to religion and righteousness, to hope and salva-
tion, before this day of our peace be finished and gone
for ever. Psalm ii. 12 ; ICiss the Son lest he be angry,
and ye perish from the way, wheii his wrath is kindled
THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 191
but a little. There was once a season when he saw the
nation of the Jews, and the people of Jerusalem, wasting
the proposals of his love ; they let their day of mercy
pass away unimproved, and he foretold their destruction
with tears in his eyes. Luke xix. 41, 42 ; He beheld
the city and wept over it, alas, for the inhabitants who
would not be saved. He was then a messenger of sal-
vation, and clothed with pity to sinners, but in the last
great day of his wrath, there is no place for these tears
of compassion, no room for pity or forgiveness.
Remark 3. When we preach terror to obstinate sin-
ners, we may preach Jesus Christ as ivell as when we
preach love and salvation ; for he is the minister of his
Father^s government, both in vengeance and in mercy.
The Lamb hath wrath as well as grace, and he is to be
feared as well as to be trusted ; and he ]must be repre-
sented under all the characters of d^grj;^y to wliich he is
exalted, that knowing the isrrorS of the Lord, as well as
the compassion of the Saviour, we may persuade sinful
men to accept of salvation and happiness.
DISCOURSE VL
THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS ;
OR, A MEDITATION ON THE ROCKS, NEAR TUJ^BRIDGB
WELLS. 1729.
REV. vi. 15, 16, 17.
^Ind the kings of tJie earth, and the great men, and the
rich men, 8^c. hid themselves in the dens, and in the
rocks of the mountains, and said to the rocks and
moimtains, fall on us, and hide us from the face of
him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of
the Lamb.
IN the former discourse on this text, we have taken
a survey of these two persons and their characters,
God and the Lamb, whose united wrath spreads so ter-
rible a scene through the world at the great judgment-
day ; we have also inquired, and found sufficient reasons,
why the anger and justice of God should be so severe
against the sinful sons and daughters of men, who have
wilfully broken his law, and refused the grace of his
gospel ; and why the indignation of the Son of God
should be superadded to all the terrors of his Father's
vengeance.
We are now come to the third and last general head
of discourse ; and that is to consider. How vain will all
the refuges and hopes of sinners be found in that dreadful
day, when God and the Lamb shall join to manifest their
wrath and indignation against them.
These hopes, and shifts, and refuges of rebellious and
guilty creatures, are represented by a noble image and
description in my text. They shall call to the rocks and
';' THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 103
the mountains to fall upon them, and to cover them from
the face of him that sits upon the throyie, and from the
wrath of the Lamb. As this address to mountains and
to rocks appears to be but a vain hope in extreme dis-
tress, when a feeble and helpless criminal is pursued by
a swift and mighty avenger, so vain and fruitless shall
all the hopes of sinners be, to escape the just indignation
and sentence of their Judge. In order to shew the van-
ity of all the refuges and sliifts to which sinners shall
betake themselves in that day, let us spread abroad this
sacred description of them in a paraphrase under the
following heads.
1. Let us consider the rocks and mountains^ as vast
and mighty created beings, of huge figure, and high
appearance, whose aid is sought in the last extremity of
distress ; and what is this but calling upon creatures to
help them against their Creator ? What is it but flying
to creatures to deliver and save them, when their of-
fended God resolves to punisli ? A vain refuge indeed,
when God, the Almighty Maker of all things, and Jesus
his Son, by whom all things were made, shall agi'ee to
arise and go forth against them, in their robes of judg-
ment, and with their artillery of vengeance ! What
created being dares interpose in that hour to shelter or
defend a condemned criminal ? What high and mighty
creature is able to afford the least security or protection?
The princes of the earth, and the captains, the kings,
and heroes, and conquerers, with all their millions of
armed men, are not able to lift a hand, for the defence of
one sinner, against the anger of God and the Lamb.
They themselves shall quake and shiver at the tre-
mendous sight, and they shall fly inio the holes of the
rocks like mere cowards, and shall join their outcries
with the poor and the slave, entreating the rocks and
mountains to befriend them with shelter and safety.
Not the highest mounlains^ not the hardest or the
3i5
194 THE VAIN REFUGK OF SINNERS.
strongest rocks, not the most exalted or most powerful
persons, or things in nature can defend, when the God
of nature resolves to destroy. When he who is higher
than the highest, and stronger than the strongest, shall
pronounce destruction upon rebels, what creature can
speak deliverance ?
The rocks and the mountains obey tlieir Maker, they
shiver in pieces at the word of his wrath, and will yield
no relM to criminals. But man, rebellious man diso-
beys his Maker, and calls to the rocks and mountains
to protect him. Vain hope, O sinner, to make the
most exalted creatures your friends, when God the Cre-
ator is your enemy. These inanimate things have never
learnt disobedience to their Maker, and rather than
screen a rebel from his deserved judgments, they will
offer themselves as instruments of divine vengeance.
S. Rocks and mountains in their cliffs, and dens, and
caverns, are sometimes considered as places of secrecy
and concealment. My text tells us, that kings and
mighty men, the rich and the free man, as well as the
poor and the slave, hid themselves in dens, and in the
rocks of the mountains. Tliey hoped there might be
some secret corner, whose thick shadows and darkness
were sufficient to iiide them, wliere the Judge might not
spy or find them out. Vain hope for sinners to hide in
the holes of the rocks, and the deepest caverns of the
mountains, to escape the notice of that God, who is all
eye and ear, and present at once in every place of earth
and heaven ! Foolish expectation indeed, to avoid the
notice of the Son of God, ivlwse eyes are as a flame of
fire, and slioot through the earth and its darkest caves.
Read the 1.39th Psalm, O sinner, and tlien think if
it be possible to liee from the eye of God, and to hide
thyself in the clefts of the rock, where his hand sliall
not find thee. — He has n\Yea.dj beset thee behind and be-
fore, and hl!<: liand already compasses thee round about
THE VAIN REFUGE OP SINNERS. 195
ill all thy paths. Darkness itself cannot cover thee ;
the night shines as the day before him, and scatters light
round about the criminal that would hide himself from
the wrath of God. Ask Jeremy the prophet, and he
shall tell thee^ that none can hide himself in secret
places where God shall not see hirriy the God who Jills
heaven and earth ; Jer. xxiii. 4. He shall hunt obsti-
nate sinners from every mountain, and out of the holes
of the rocks ; for his eyes are upon all their ways,
neither their persons, nor their iniquities, can be hid
from him.
And as you can never conceal yourselves from the
sight and notice of the Judge, so neither can you turn
your eyes away from him : you must behold his face
in vengeance, and endure the distressing sight. The
rays of his Majesty, in the day of his wrath, shall strike
through all the crannies of the darkest den, and pierce
the deepest shade. ^' Lord, when tliy hantl is lifted up
they will not see ; but they shall see and be ashamed ;'"
Isa. xxvi. 10. And the face of the Lamb must be seen
in all its unknown terrors. Rev. i. 7 ; Behold he comes
in the clouds, aud every eye shall see him. The guilty
creature, and the divine Avenger, shall meet eye to eye,
though the creature has hid himself under rocks and
mountains.
3. These rocks and mountains are designed to repre-
sent, not only concealment and darkness by their holes
and caverns, but they are known hulicarks of defence,
and i^laces of security and shelter, hy reason of their
strength and thickness. When the prophet would ex~
press the safety of the man who practises righteousness
in a vicious age ; Isaiah xxxiii. 16 ; he says. He shall
dwell on high, his place of defence shall he a munition of
rocks. These shall be a bulwark round him for his
guard aud safety. When sinners therefore flee to the
mountains, and to the rocks, they may be supposed to
196 THE VAIN REFUGE OP SINNERS.
seek a thick covering, or a shield of defence to secure
tliem, where the strokes of diviite anger shall not break
through and reach them. They trust to the solid pro-
tection of the rocks, and the strength of the mountains to
guard them ; but these, alas ! can yield no shelter from
the stroke of the arm of God. Should the rocks, O
sinners, attempt to befriend thee, and surround thee with
their thickest fortification, his wrath would cleave them
asunder, and pierce thee to the soul, with greater ease
than thou canst break through a paper wall with the
battering engines of war. Ask the Prophet Nahum, who
was acquainted with the majesty of God, and he shall tell
thee, how it throws doivn the mountain, and tears the
rock in pieces. When his fury is poured out like fire,
the mountains quake at him, the hills melt, the earth is
burnt at his presence, icith all that dwell therein. He
that has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and
the clouds are the dust of his feet. What mountain
can stand before his indignation P And where is the rock
that can abide in the fierceness of his anger P Nahum i.
2. — 6. Were the whole globe of the earth one massy
rock, and should it yawn to the very centre to give thee
a refuge and hiding place, and then close again and
surround thee with its solid defence, yet, when the Lord
commands, the earth will obey the voice of him that
made it ; this solid earth would cleave again and resign
the guilty prisoner, and yield thee up to the sword of
his justice. Wheresoever a God resolves to strike,
safety and defence are impossible things. The sinner
must suifer without remedy, and without hope, who has
provoked an Almighty God, and awakened the wrath
of that Saviour who can subdue all things to himself
4. Rocks and mountains falling upon us are instru-
ments of sudden and overwhelmning death. When sinners
therefore call to the rocks and mountains to fall upon
them and cover them, tliey are supposed to endeavor to
THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 197
put an end ^o their own beings by some overwhelmning
destruction, that they may not live to feel and endure
the resentments of an affronted God, and an abused Sa-
viour. Though they are just raised to life, they would
fain die again ; but God, who calls the dead from their
graves, will forbid the rocks and the mountains, and
every creature, to lend sinners their aid to destroy them-
selves. Sinners, in that dreadful day, shall seek death,
hut death shall flee from them. Their natures are now
made immortal, and the fall of rocks and mountains
cannot crush them to death. They must live to sustain
the weight of divine wrath, which is heavier than rocks
and mountains.
The life which God hath now given to men in this
mortal state, may be given up again, or thrown away by
the daring impiety of self murder ; and they may make
many creatures instruments of their own destruction ;
but the life which the Son of God shall give them, when
he calls them from the dead, is everlasting ; they can-
not resign their existence and immortality, they cannot
part with it, nor can any creature take it from them.
They would rather die than see God in his majesty, or
the Lamb arrayed in his robe of judgment ; but the
wretches are immortalized to punishment, by the long
abused majesty and power of God. And they must
live for ever to learn what it is to despise the authority
of a God, and to abuse the grace of a Saviour. Their
doom is everlasting burnings. They have no rest day
nor night, the smoke of their torment will ascend for
ever and ever, in the presence of the holy angels, and in
the presence of the Lamb ; Rev. xiv. 10, 11.
Thus have we considered those huge and bulky be-
ings, the rocks and the mountains, in all their vast and
mighty figures and appearances, with all their clefts, and
dens, and caverns, for shelter and concealment, with all
their fortification and massy thickness for defence, and
198
THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS.
with all their power to crush and destroy mankind, and
yet we find them utterly insufficient to hide, cover, or
protect guilty creatures, in that great day of the wrath
of God and the Lamb.
REFLECTIONS ON THE FOREGOING DISCOURSE.
1. How strangely do all the appearances of Christ to
sinners, in the several seasons and dispensations of his
grace J differ from that last great and solemn appearance,
which to them will he a dispensation of final vengeance.
He visited the world in divine visions of old, even from
the day of the sin of Adam, and it was to reveal mercy
to sinful man ; and he sometimes assumed the majesty
of God, to let the world know he was not to be trifled
with. He visited the earth at liis incarnation. How
lowly was his state ! How full of grace his ministry !
Yet he then gave notice of tliis day of vengeance, when
he should appear in his own and his Father's most
awful glories.
He visits the nations now with the w ord of salvation,
lie appears in the glass of his gospel, and in the ordi-
nances of his sanctuary, as a Saviour whose heart melts
with love ; and in the language of his tenderest com-
passions, and of his dying groans, he invites sinners to
be reconciled to an offended God. He appears as a
Lamb made a sacrifice for sin, and as a minister of his
Father's mercy, offering and distributing pardons to
criminals. But when he visits the world as a final
judge, how solemn and illustrious will that appearance
be ? How terrible his countenance to all those who
have refused to receive him as a Saviour ? Behold he
Cometh in fiaming fire, with ten thousand of his angels,
to render vengeance to them that resisted his grace, and
disobeyed the invitation of his gospel ; 2 Thess. i. 7-
Time was, when the Father sent forth his Son, not to
condemn the world, hut that through him the world might
THE VAIN REFUGE OP SINNERS. 199
have life ; John iii. 17- But the time is coming, when
God shall send him arrayed with majesty, and with
righteous indignation, to condemn the rebellious world,
and inflict upon them the pains of eternal death. Hast
thou seen him, O my soul, in the discoveries of his
mercy, fly to him with all the wings of faith and love,
with all the speed of desire and joy, fly to him ; receive
his grace, and accept of his salvation, that when the day
of the wrath of tlie Lamb shall appear, thou mayest
behold his countenance without terror and confusion.
Reflection 2. How very different will the thoughts of
sinners he in that day, from what they are at present P
How different their wishes and their inclinations ? And
that with regard to this one terror, which my text des-
cribes, viz. that they shall address themselves to the
rocks and mountains for shelter, and fly into the dens
and caverns of the earth for concealment and safety.
Let us survey this in a few particulars.
Sinners whose loolcs were once lofty and disdainful^
whose eyes were exalted in pride, their mouth set
against the lieavens, and their hearts haughty and full
of scorn, they shall be liumbled to the dust of the earth,
they shall creep into tlie hiding places of the moles and
the bats, and thrust their heads into holes and caverns,
and dens of desolation, at the appearance of God their
Creator in flaming fire, and the Son of God their Judge ;
for he is the avenger of his own, and his Father's in-
jured honors.
Sinners who were once fond of their idols, and their
sensual delights, who made idols to themselves of every
agreeable creature, and gave it that place in their hearts
which belongs only to God, they shall be horribly con-
founded in that day, when God shall appear in his
majesty, to shake the earth to the centre, and to burn
the surface of it with all its bravery. Tliis is nobly
described by the prophet Tsaiah. chap. Sd, from 10 — 2i.
SOO THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS.
^^In that day shall a man cast his idols of silver, and
his idols of gold, which they made, eacli one for himself
to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to go into the
clefts of the rock, and into the tops of the ragged rocks,
for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty,
when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth."
Sinners who once could not tell how to spend a day
without gay company J those sons and daughters of mirth,
who turned their midnights into noon, with the splendor
of their lamps, and the rich and shining furniture of
their palaces, those noisy companions of riot, who made
the streets of the city resound with their midnight revels,
they shall now fly to the solitary caverns of the rocks,
and would be glad to dwell tliere in darkness and
silence for ever, if tliey might but avoid the wrath of a
provoked God, and the countenance of an abused Sav-
iour. They would fain be shut up for ever from day-
light, lest they should see the face of an almighty en-
emy, whose name and honor have been reproached in
their songs of lewd jollity and profaneness.
Sinners who once weie fond of liberty in the wildest
sense, and could not bear that any restraints should be
laid upon their persons or tlieir wishes, who never could
endure the thought of a confinement to their closets for
one half hour, to converse with God, or with their own
souls there, they now call aloud to the rocks and the
mountains to immure them round, as a refuge from the
eye of their Judge. They were once perpetually roving
abroad, and gadding tlirougli all the gay scenes of sen-
snality, in quest of new and flowery pleasures ; but now
they beg to be imprisoned for ever, in the dens and
caves of tlie earth ; the deepest and most dismal caves
are their most ardent wishes, that they might never see
the countenance of their divine Avenger, nor feel the
weight of his hand.
Sinners who heretofore thought themselves and their
THE VAIN REFUGE OP SINNERS. 201
deeds of darkness secure enough from the eye of God,
and from the strokes of his justice, while they reveled
in their common habitations, those, who even under the
open sky, could defy the Almighty, could laugh at his
threaten ings, and mock the prophecies of his vengeance,
now they can find no caverns deep or dark enough to
hide them from his sight. His lightnings penetrate the
hardest rocks, and shine into the deepest solitudes.
There is no screen or shelter thick and strong enough
to stand between God and them, and to cover and shield
tlieni from his thunder. They call now to the moun-
tains and the rocks to be an eternal screen ; but the
rocks and the mountains are deaf to their cry. Then
shall they remember, with unknown regret and anguish,
those days of grace, when Jesus Christ, who is now
their Judge, offered himself to become a screen to them,
and a defence from the anger of God their Creator.
But they rejected this offered grace. He would have
been the rock of their safety, where they should have
found refuge from the fiery threatenings of the broken
law, and the majesty of an offended God. The Father
himself had appointed him for this kind oflBce to repent-
ing sinners ; and perhaps lie gave Moses a type or
emblem of it, when he commanded himself to hide in the
clefts of the rock, to secure him from destruction, while
the burning blaze of his glory passed by ; Exod. xxxiii.
22. And Isaiah, the prophet, had foretold, that this
Jesus should be as the shadow of a great rock, to shelter
them from the beams of the wrath of God ; but they
refused this blessing, they renounced this refuge ; and
now they find there is no other rock sufficient to become
a shelter from the stroke of his almighty arm, or a suffi-
cient shadow from tlie burning vengeance.
Sinners who once over rated their flesh and blood, and
loved it with infinite fondness, who treated their fleshly
appetites with excessive nicety and elegance, and affected
26
SOS THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS.
a humorous delicacy in every thing round ahout thein.
would now gladly creep into the mouldy caverns of the
rocks, they would be glad to hide and defile themselves
in the dark and noisome grottos of the earth, and
squeese their bodies into the rough and narrow clefts, to
shield themselves from the indignation of him tliat sits
upon the throne, and of the Lamb.
Those who once icere so tender of this mortal life and
limhs, and could not think of bearing the least hardship
for the sake of virtue and piety, are now wishing to have
those delicate limbs of theirs crushed by the fall of rocks
and mountains. They wish earnestly to have their lives
and their souls destroyed for ever, and their whole na-
tures buried in desolation and death, if they might but
avoid the eternal agonies and torments that are prepared
for them. Now they long for caverns and graves, to
hide them for ever from the justice of God, whose author-
ity they have despised, and from the wrath of a Saviour,
whose mercy they have impiously renounced.
Look forward, O my soul, to this awful and dreadful
hour ; survey this tremendous scene of confusion, when
sinners shall run counter to all their former principles
and wishes, and pass a quite different judgment upon
their sinful delights, from what they were wont to do in
the days of this life of vanity. Learn, O my soul, to
judge of things more agreeably to the appearances of
that day. Never canst thou set the flattering pleasures
of sense, and the joys of sin, in a truer and juster view,
than in the light of this glorious and tremendous judg-
ment.
Reflection 3. How great and dreadful must the dis-
tress of creatures be, when they cannot hear to see the
face of God their Creator P How terrible must be the
circumstances of the sons of men, when they cannot
endure to see the face of the Son of God, but would fsiin
hide themselves from the si2;ht, under rocks and mouu-
THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 20B
tains ? How wretched must their state be, who avoid
the face of the blessed God with horror, which the holy
angels ever behold with most intense delight, and which
the saints rejoice in, as their highest happiness ? It is
their heaven to see God, and behold the glory of his
Son Jesus ; Matt. v. 8, John xvii. But this is the very
hell of sinners in that dismal hour, and will till their
souls with such inexpressible anguish, that they call to
the rocks and mountains to hide them from the sight.
Dreadful and deplorable is their case indeed, who can-
not endure to see the countenance of Jesus, the Son of
God, Jesus, the Saviour of men, the copy of the Father's
glory, and the image of his beauty and love. They
cannot bear to see that Jesus who is the chiefest of ten
thousands, and altogether lovely ; they fly from that
blessed countenance, which is the ornament and the joy
of all the holy and happy creation. That blessed coun-
tenance is become the terror and confusion of impenitent
and guilty rebels*
And what shall I do, if I should be found amongst
this criminal number, in that great day ? If I look at
the wisdom and the righteousness of God, these will
reflect the keenest rays of horror and anguish upon my
soul, for it is that wisdom, and that righteousness, that
have joined to prepare the salvation which I have re-
jected ; and therefore, now that wise and righteous God
seeth it proper and necessary to punish me with ever-
lasting sorrows. If I look at the power of God, it is a
dreadful sight. Eternal and almighty power, that can
break through rocks and mountains, to inflict vengeance
upon the guilty, and stands engaged by his honor, to
break my rebellious spirit, with unknown torments. If
I look at his goodness or his love, it is love and goodness
that I have despised and abused ; and it is now changed
into divine fury. If I look at the face of Jesus, and
find there the correspondent features of his Father, I
S04« THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNEKS.
shall then hate to see it — for this very reason, because
it bears his Father's image, who is so terrible to my
thoughts. I shall neither be able to bear the sight of
God, or of his fairest copy, that is, Jesus his Son, because
I am so shamefully unlike them both ; and besides,
I have affronted their majesty, and despised their mercy.
How painful and smarting will be the reflection of my
heart in that day, when I shall remember that Jesus
called out to me fi-om heaven, by the messengers of his
grace, and said. Behold me, behold me, look unto me
from the ends of the earth, and be saved. But now he
is armed with a commission of vengeance, and he strikes
terror and exquisite pain into my soul with every frown,
so that I shall wish to be for ever hid from the face of
the Lamb, for the great day of his ivrath is come, and,
who shall be able to endure this wrath, to stand before
his thunder, or bear the lightning of this day ? Alas !
how miserable must I be by an everlasting necessity, if
I cannot bear the countenance of God and Christ, which
is the spring of unchangeable happiness to all the saints
and the blessed angels ? O may I timely secure the love
of my God, and gain an interest in the favor and salva-
tion of the blessed Jesus ! Here, O Lord, at thy foot,
I lay down all the Aveapons of my former rebellions ;
I implore thy love through the interest of thy Son, the
great Mediator. Let me see the light of thy countenance,
and the smiles of thy face. Let me see a reconciled
God, and let him tell me that my sins are all forgiven ;
then shall I not be afraid to meet the countenance of
him that sits upon the throne, or the Lamb, when Christ
shall return fi'om heaven, to punish the impenitent rebels
against divine grace.
Reflection 4. Hoic hopeless, as well as distressed, is
the case of sinners in that day, when they are driven to
this last extremity, to seek help from the rocks and the
mountains P It is the last, but the fruitless refuge of a
THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 205
frighted and perishing creature. The rocks and moun-
tains refuse to help them. They will not crush to death
those wretches, whom the justice of God has doomed to
a painful immortality, nor will they conceal or shelter
those obstinate rebels, whom the Son of God has raised
out of their graves, to be exposed to public shame and
punishment. Those high and hollow rocks, those dis-
mal dens and caverns, dark as midnight, those deep and
gloomy retreats of melancholy and sorrow, which they
shunned with utmost aversion, and could hardly bear to
think of them without horror here on earth, are now be-
come their only retreat and shelter ; but it is a very vain
and hopeless one.
When I see such awful appearances in nature, huge
and lofty rocks hanging over my head, and at every step
of my approach, they seem to nod upon me with over-
whelming ruin ; when my curiosity searches far into
their hollow clefts, their dark and deep caverns of sol-
itude and desolation, methinks while I stand amongst
them, 1 can hardly think myself in safety, and at best
they give a sort of solemn and dreadful delight. Let me
improve the scene to religious purposes, and raise a
divine meditation. Am I one of those wretches, who
shall call to these huge, impending rocks to fall upon
me ? Am I that guilty and miserable creature, who
shall entreat these mountains to cover me from him that
sits on the throne and the Lamb ? Am I prepared to
meet the countenance of the blessed Jesus, the Judge in
that day ? Have I such an acquaintance with the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sins of the world, such a
holy faith in his mediation, such a sincere love to him,
and such an unfeigned repentance of all my sins, that I
can look upon him as my friend and my refuge, and a
friend infinitely better than rocks and mountains, for he
not only screens me from the divine anger, but introduces
306 THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS.
me into the Father's love, and places me in his blissful
presence for ever?
Heflection 5. JVJiat hideous and everlasting mischief
is contained in the nature of sin, especially sin against
the gospel of Christ, against the methods of grace, and
the offers of salvation, which exposes creatures to such
extreme distress f The fairest and the most ilattering
iniquity, what beautiful colours soever it may put on in
the hour of temptation, yet it carries all this hidden
mischief and teiTor in the bosom of it ; for it frights the
creature from the sight of his Creator and liis Saviour,
and makes him fly to every vain refuge. Adam and
Eve, the parents of our race, when tliey lost their inno-
cence and became criminals, fled from the presence of
God, whom they conversed witli before in holy friend-
ship. Gen. iii. 8 ; Theij hid themselves among the trees
of paradise, and tlie thickest shadows of the garden ; but
the eye and the voice of God reached them there. The
curse found them out, thougli that was a curse allayed
with the promised blessing of a Saviour. Guilt will
work in the conscience, and tell us that God is angry,
and the next thought is, ichere shall I hide myself from
an angry God P But when the mercy of God has taught
us where we may hide ourselves, even under the shadow
of the cross of his Son, and we refuse to make him our
refuge, there remains nothing but a final horror of soul,
and a hopeless address to rocks and mountains, to liide
us from an offended God, and a provoked Saviour.
Whensoever, O my soul, thou shalt find or feel some
flattering iniquity alluring thy senses, making court to
thy heart, and ready to gain upon thy inward wishes,
remember the tlistress and terror of heart that sin-
ners must undergo in the great and terrible day of tlie
Lord. Think of the rocks and mountains which they
vainly call upon to befriend them, to sliield tliem from
the vengeance of that almighty arm which is provoked
THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 207
by sin, to make his creatures miserable. Remember, O
my soul, and fear : remember and resist the vile tempt-
ation, and stand afar off from that practice, which will
make thee afraid to see the face of God.
Reflection 6. Of what injinite im'portance is it then
to sinners f to gain a humble acquaintance andfmendship
with the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the
world, that ice may be able with comfort, to behold the
face of him that sits on the throne in that day. Which
of us can say, I am not a sinner, I am not guilty before
God F And which of us then has the courage and hard-
ness to declare, I have no need of a Saviour P And is
there any one amongst us, who hath not yet fled for
refuge to Jesus our only and suiRcient hope ? There is
a protection provided against a provoked God, but there
is none against a neglected and abused Saviour ; I mean
where this neglect and abuse is final and unrepented.
O how solicitous should every soul be, in a matter of
this divine moment, tliis everlasting importance ? What
words of compassion shall we use, what words of awak-
ening terror, to put sinners in mind of their extreme
danger, if they neglect the only security which the gospel
has appointed ? What language of fear and importunity
shall we make use of, to hasten you, O sinners, to the
acquaintance, the faith, and the love of Jesus the Saviour,
that you may behold his face, and the face of the Father,
with serenity and joy in the last day ? Give yourselves
up to him then without further delay, as your teacher,
your high priest, your reconciler, your Lord and king.
His blessed offices are the only chambers of protection,
when God shall arise to burn the world, and to avenge
himself on bis enemies that will not be reconciled.
Reflection 7- Let us take occasion from my text, also
to meditate on the happy circumstances of true chris-
tians, in that day of terror. Behold the Judge appears,
he cometh in the clouds, surrounded with armies of
20H THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS.
avenging angels, the ministers of his indignation; he
rideth on a chariot of flaming fire, the earth with all its
monntains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, the
fields and the forests become one spacious blaze, the sea
grows dry and forsakes its shores, and rivers flee away
at his lightning ; the rocks are broken and shivered at
the appearance of his majesty, the tombs are thrown
open, and with terrible dismay shall the graves give up
their dead ; the pyramids of brick and stone, moulder
and sink into dust, the sepulchres of brass and marble
yield up their royal prisoners, and all the captives of
death awake and start into life, at the voice of the Son
of Grod. Amidst all these scenes of surprise and liorror,
with how serene a countenance, and how peaceful a soul,
do the saints awake from their beds of earth ? Calm and
serene among all these confusions they arise from their
long slumber, and go to meet their returning Saviour and
their friend. They have seen him in the glass of his
gospel, submitted to his laws, and rejoiced in his grace,
and they now delight to see him face to face in his glory.
They have seen him vested with his commission of mer-
cy, they have heard and received his message of good-
ness and love, and they cannot but rejoice to see him
coming to fulfil his last promises. Tiiey have cheer-
fully subjected themselves to his government here on
earth, they have followed him in paths of holiness,
through the wilderness of this world ; and what remains
but that they be publickly acknowledged by Jesus the
Judge of all, and follow him up to the place of blessed-
ness which he hath prepared for them.
Perhaps some of tliese holy ones, in the days of the
flesh, were banished from the cities and the societies of
men for the sake of Christ, they were tlriven out from
their native towns, and forced to seek a shelter in solita-
ry dens and caves, among rocks and mountains, to wan-
der through deserts in sheep-sJcins and goat-sJnns, desti-
THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS, 209
tute, afflicted, tormented ; Heb. xi. 31. They made
the clefts of the rock and caverns of the earth their
refuge from the face of their cruel persecutors. Tlie
mountains and rocks sheltered them from the wrath of
princes, and the dark grottos of the earth, and the dens
of wild beasts, concealed them fpom the rage of men,
from the sword of the mighty ; but now tlie scene is
gloriously changed ; the martyrs and holy confessors
awaking from their graves, exult and triumph in the
smiles of their Judge, and receive public honors before
the whole creation of God. They behold the infinite
consternation of hauglity tyrants and persecuting princes,
of proud generals, and bloody captains in that day.
They hear them call to rocks and mountains to hide them
from the face of him that sits upon the throne and the
Lamb. The authority and regal honor of the emperors
of the earth, liath long slept in the dust ; but it is lost
there for ever ; tlieir glory shall not awake nor arise
with them. Behold the mighty sinners who have been
the enemies of Christ, or negligent of his salvation, how
they creep affrighted out of their shattered marbles, and
leave all that pomp and pride of death in ruins, to ap-
pear before God with shame and everlasting contempt.
The men of arms, the captains and sons of valor, whose
swords lay under their heads, with their tropliies and
titles spread around them, shall raise their heads up
from the dust, with utmost affright and anguish of spirit.
Their cour ^e fails them before the face of Jesus, the
Lord and Judge of the whole creation. They would
fly to the common refuge of slaves, they shrink into the
holes of the rocks, and call to the mountains to screen
and protect them. *^nd every bond-man, and every free-
man, who have not known nor loved God and Christ, are
plunged into extremest distress ; but the humble chris-
tian is serene and joyful, and lifts up his head with
S7 " '
310 THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS.
courage and delight, in the midst of these scenes of
astonishment and dismay.
" He is come, he is come, saith the saint, even that
Lord Jesus, whom I have seen, whom I have known and
loved in the days of my mortal life, whom I have long
waited for in the dust of death ; he is come to reward
all my labors, to wipe away all my sorrows, to finish
my faith, and turn it into sight, to fulfil all my hopes
and his own promises ; he is come to deliver me for
ever, from all my enemies, and to bear me to the place
which he has prepared for those that love him, and long
for his appearance.
'^ 0 blessed be the God of grace, who hath convinced
me of the sins of my nature, and the sins of my life in
the days of my flesh ; who hath discovered to me the dan-
ger of a guilty and sinful state, hath shewn me the com-
mission of mercy in the hands of his Son, hath pointed
me to the Lamb of God, who was offered as a sacrifice
to take away the sins of men, and hath inclined me to
receive him in all his divine characters and offices, and
to follow the captain of my salvation through all the
labors and dangers of life. I have trusted him, I have
loved him, I have endeavored, though under many frail-
ties, to honor and obey hira, and I can now behold his
face without terror. While the mighty men of the earth
tremble with amazement, and call to the rocks and
mountains to hide them from his face, I rejoice to see
him in his robes of judgment, for he is come to pronounce
me righteous in the face of men and angels, to declare
me a good and faithful servant before the whole creation,
to set the crown of victory on my head, to take me to
heaven with him, that where he is I may be also to be-
hold his glory, and to partake for ever of the blessings
of his love" Amen.
DISCOURSE VIL
NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.
REV. xxii. 25.
And there shall he, no night there.
LENGTH of night and overspreading darkness
in the winter season, carries so many inconveniences
with it, that it is generally esteemed a most uncomforta-
ble part of our time. Though night and day necessarily
succeed each other all the year, by the wise appoint-
ment of God in the course of nature, by means of the
revolution of the heavenly bodies, or rather of this
earthly globe, yet the night season is neither so delight-
ful nor so useful a part of life, as the duration of day-
light. It is the voice of all nature, as well as the word
of Solomon, light is sweet, and a pleasant thing to enjoy
the sun-beams. Light gives a glory and beauty to every
thing that is visible, and shews the face of nature in its
most agreeable colours ; but night, as it covers all the
visible world with one dark and undistinguishing vail, is
less pleasing to all the animal parts of the creation.
Therefore as hell and the place of punishment is called
utter darkness in scripture, so heaven is represented as
a mansion of glory, as the inheritance of the saints in
light. And this light is constant without interruption,
and everlasting, or without end. So my text expresses
it, there shall he no night there.
Let it be observed, that in the language of the holy
writers, light is often ascribed to intellectual beings, and
is used as a metaphor to imply knowledge, and holiness,
and joy. Knowledge as the beauty and excellency of
22i NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.
the mind, holivess as the l)est regulation of the willf and
joy as the harmony of our best afiections in the posses-
sion of what we love. And in opposition to these, igno-
rance, iniquity and sorrow, are represented by the met-
aphor of darkness. Then we are in darkness in a
spiritual sense, when the understanding is beclouded or
led into mistake, or when the will is perverted or turn-
ed away from God and holiness, or when the most un-
comfortable affections prevail in the soul. I might rite
particular texts of scripture to exemplify all this. And
when it is said, there shall be no night in heaven, it may
be very well applied in the spiritual sense ; there shall
be no errors or mistakes among the blessed, no such ig-
norance as to lead them astray, or to make them uneasy;
the will shall never be turned aside from its pursuit of
holiness, and obedience to God ; nor shall the affections
ever be ruffled with any thing that may administer grief
and pain. Clear and unerring knowledge, unspotted
holiness, and everlasting joy, shall be the portion of all
the inhabitants of the upper world. These are more
common subjects of discourse.
But I choose rather at present to consider this word
night, in its literal sense, and shall endeavor to repre-
sent part of the blessedness of the heavenly state, under
this special description of it. There is no night there.
Now in order to pursue this design, let us take a
brief survey of the several evils or inconveniences which
attend the night, or the season of darkness here on earth,
and shew how far the heavenly world is removed, and
free from all manner of inconvenience of this kind.
1. Though night be the season of sleep for the relief
of nature, and for our refreshment after the labors of the
day, yet it is a certain sign of the weakness and weari-
7iess of nature when it wants such refreshments, and such
dark seasons of relief But there is no night in heaven.
Say, 0 ye inhabitants of that vital world, are ye ever
NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. 313
weary ? Do your natures know any such weakness ? Or
are your holy labors of such a kind as to expose you to
fatigue, or to tire your spirits? The blessed above mount
up toivards God as on eagles wings^ they run at the
command of God and are not weary^ they walk on the
hills of paradise and never faint, as the Prophet Isaiah
expresses a vigorous and pleasurable state ; chap. xl.
verse last.
There are no such animal bodies in heaven, whose
natural springs of action can be exhausted or weakened
by the business of the day. There is no flesh and
blood there, to complain of weariness, and to want rest.
O blessed state, where our faculties shall be so happily
suited to our work, that we shall never feel ourselves
weary of it, nor fatigued by it.
And as there is no weariness, so there is no sleeping
there. Sleep was not made for the heavenly state.
Can the spirits of the just ever sleep, under the full
blaze of divine glory, under the incessant communica-
tions of divine love, under the perpetual influences of the
grace of God the Father, and of Jesus the Saviour, and
amidst the inviting confluence of every spring of bles-
sedness.
3. Another inconvenience of night, near akin to the
former, is, that business is interrupted by it, partly for
want of light to perform it, as ivell as for want of
strength and spirits to pursue it. This is constantly
visible in the successions of labor and repose here on
earth ; and the darkness of the night is appointed to in-
terrupt the course of labor, and the business of the day,
that nature may be recruited. But the business of
heaven is never interrupted ; there is everlasting light
and everlasting strength. Say, ye blessed spirits on
high, who join in the services which are performed for
God and the Lamb there, ye who unite all your powers
in the worship and homage that is paid to the Fa-
214) NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.
ther and to the Son, ye that mingle in all the joyful
conversation of that divine and holy assembly, say, is
there found any useless hour there ? Do your devotions,
your duties and your joys, ever suffer such an entire in-
terruption of rest and silence, as the season of darkness
on earth necessarily creates amongst the inhabitants of
our world ?
The living creatures * which are represented by
John the apostle, in Rev. iv ; whether they signify saints
or angels, yet <hey were full of eyes that never slumber ;
they rest not day nor night ; this is spoken in the lan-
guage of mortals, to signify, that they are never inter-
rupted by any change of seasons, or intervening dark-
ness in the honors they pay to God. They are descri-
bed as ever saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty ^
who was, and is, and is to come. And the same sort of
expression is used concerning the saints in heaven.
Rev. vii. 15 ; "They who came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes, and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb, they are before the throne of
God, and serve him day and night in his temple," that is
they constantly serve or worship him in his holy temple
in heaven. Perhaps the different orders and ranks of
them in a continual succession, are ever doing some
honors to God. As there is no night there, so there is
no cessation of their services, their worship, and their
holy exercises, in one form or another, throughout the
duration of their being.
Our pleasures here on earth are short lived. If they
are intense, nature cannot bear them long, any more
than constant business and labor. And if our labors
and our pleasures should happily join and mingle here
on earth, which is not always the case, yet night compels
* The word 2ua which is translated beasts, signifies only animals or living
creatures, and does not carry with it so mean and so disagreeable an idea a^
the word beasts in English,
NO NIGHT IN HEAVFN. 215
US to break oif the pleasing labor, and we must rest
from the most delightful business. Happy is that
region on high, where business and pleasure are for ever
the same among all the inhabitants of it ; and there is no
pause or entire cessation of the one or the other. Tell
me, ye warm and lively christians, when your hearts
are sweetly and joyfully engaged in the worship of God,
in holy conversation, or in any pious services here on
earth, how often you have been forced to break off these
celestial entertainments by th6 returning night? But in
the heavenly state, there is everlasting active service,
with everlasting delight and satisfaction.
In that blessed world, there can be no idleness, no
inactivity, no trifling intervals to pass away time, no
vacant or empty spaces in eternal life. Who can be
idle under the immediate eye of God ? Who can trifle
in the presence of Christ ? Who can neglect the pleas-
urable work of heaven, under the sweet influences of the
present Deity, and under the smiles of his countenance,
who approves all their work and worship ?
3. As in our present world '^ the hours of night" are
inactive if we sleep, so " they seem long and tedious
when our eyes are wakeful, and sleep flies from us.''
Perhaps we hear the clock strike one hour after another,
with wearisome longings for the next succeeding hour.
We wish the dark season at an end, and we long for
the approach of morning, we grow impatient for the
dawning of the day. But in heaven, ye spirits who
have dwelt longest there, can ye remember one tiresome
or tedious hour, through all the years of your residence
in that country? Is there not eternal wakefulness
among all the blessed ? Can any of you ever indulge
a slumber? Can you sleep in heaven ? Can you want
it, or wish for it? No, for that world is all vital and
sprightly for ever. When we leave this flesh and blood,
farewell to all the tedious measures of time, farewell
SI 6 NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.
tiresome darkness ; our whole remaining duration is
life and light, vital activity and vigor, attended with
everlasting holiness and joy.
4. While we are here on earth, the darkness of the
night often exposes us to the danger of losing our way^
of wandering into confusion, or falling into mischief.
When the sun-beams have withdrawn their light, and
midnight clouds overspread the heaven, we cannot see
our path before us, we cannot pursue our proper course,
nor secure ourselves from stumbling. How many
travellers have been betrayed by the thick shadows of
the night, into mistaken ways or pathless deserts, into
endless mazes among thorns and briars, into bogs, and
pits, and precipices, into sudden destruction and death?
But there are no dangers of this kind in the heavenly
world. All the regions of paradise are for ever illumin-
ated by the glory of God. The light of his countenance
shines upon every step that we shall take, and brightens
all our way. We shall walk in the light of God, and
under the blessed beams of the Sun of righteousness ;
and we are secured for ever against wandering, and
against every danger of tripping or falling in our course.
Our feet may stumble on the dark mountains here below,
but there is no stumbling-block on the hills of paradise ;
nor can we go astray from our God or our duty. The
paths of that country are all pleasure, and ever-living
daylight shines upon them without end. Happy beings
who dwell or travel there !
5. In the night, we are exposed here on earthfto the
violence and jilmider of wicked men, whether ice are
abroad or at home. There is scarce any safety now a
days to those Avho travel in the night ; and even in our
own habitations there is frequent fear and surprise. At
that season, tlie sons of mischief dig through houses in
the dark, which they had marked for themselves in the
day time. They lurk in corners to seize the innocent,
NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. 317
and to rob him of his possessions. But in the heavenly
world there is no dark hour ; there is nothing that can.
encourage such mischievous designs; nor are any of the
sons of violence, or the malicious powers of darkness,
suffered to have an abode or refuge in that country.
No surprise nor fear belongs to the inhabitants of those
regions. Happy souls, who spend all their life in the
light of the countenance of God, and are for ever secure
from tlie plots and mischievous devices of the wicked I
While we dwell here below amongst the changing
seasons of light and darkness, what daily care is taken
to shut the doors of our dwellings against the men of
mischief? What solicitude in a time of war to keep the
gates of our towns and cities well secured against all
invasion of enemies. Every man with his sword upon
his thigh, because of fear in the night. But in that
blessed world, there is no need of such defences; no
such guardian cares to secure the inhabitants. The
gates of that city shall not be shut by day ; and there is
no night there. There shines perpetual daylight, and
the gates are ever open to receive new comers from our
world, or for the conveyance of orders and messages to
and fro from the throne, through all the dominions of
God, and of the Lamb. Blessed are the inhabitants of
that country, where there are no dangers arising from
any of the wicked powers of darkness, nor any dark
minute to favor their plots of mischief.
6. The time of night and darkness is the time of the
concealment of secret sins. Shameful iniquities are then
practised amongst men, because the darkness is a cover
to them. The eye of the adulterer watches for the twi-
light j saying J no eye shall see me ; Job xxiv. 15. In the
black and dark night he hopes for concealment as well as
the thief and the murderer, and they that are drunken,
are drunken in the night ; 1 Thes. v, 7- The hours
of darkness are a temptation to these iniquities, and the
g8
S18 NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.
shadows of the evening are a vail to cover them from the
sight of men. They find a screen behind the cnrtains
of the night, and a refuge in thick darkness. But in the
heavenly world there is no temptation to such iniquities,
no defilement can gain an entrance there, nor could it
find any vail or covering. The regions of light, and
peace, and holy love, are never violated w ith such scenes
of villany and guilt. No secret sins can be committed
there, nor can they hope for any screen to defend them
from the eye of God and the Lamb, whose eyes are like
aflame of fire. The light of God shines round every
creature in that country, and there is not a saint or angel
there, that desires a covering from the sight of God, nor
would accept of a vail or screen to interpose between
him and the lovely glories of divine holiness and grace.
To behold God, and to live under the blessings of his
eye, is their everlasting and chosen joy. O that our
world were more like it !
7- When the night returns upon us here on earth, the
pleasures of sight vanish and are lost. Knowledge i«!
shut out at one entrance in a great degree, and one of our
senses is withheld from the spreading beauties and glo-
ries of this lower creation, almost as thougli we were
deprived of it, and were grown blind for a season.
It is true, the God of nature has appointed the moon
and stars to relieve the darkness at some seasons, that
when the sun is withdrawn, half the world at those hours
may not be in confusion : and by the inventions of men.
we are furnished Avith lamps and candles to relieve our
darkness within doors. But if we stir abroad in the
black and dark night, instead of the various and de-
lightful scenes of the creation of God in the skies and
the fields, we are presented with an universal blank of
nature, and one of the great entertaimnents and satisfac-
tions of this life, is quite taken away from us. But in
heaven, the glories of that world are for ever in \iew.
NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. \ 219
The beauteous scenes and prospects of the hills of para-
dise are never hidden. We shall there continually
behold a rich variety of things which eye hath not seen
on earth, which ear hath not heard, and which the heart
of man hath not conceived. Say, ye souls in paradise,
ye inhabitants of that glorious world, is there any loss of
pleasure by your absence from those works of God
which are visible here on earth, while you are for ever
entertained with those brighter works of God in the
upper world? While every corner of that country is
enlightened by the glory of God himself, and while the
Son of God with all his beams of grace shines for ever
upon it?
8. It is another unpleasing circumstance of the night
season, that it is the coldest part of time. When the
sun is sunk below the earth, and its beams are liidden
from us, its kindly and vital heat, as well as its light,
are removed from one side of the globe ; and this gives
a sensible uneasiness in the hours of midnight, to those
who are not well provided with warm accommodations.
And I might add also, it is too often night with us in
a spiritual sense, while we dwell here on earth. Our
hearts are cold as well as dark. How seldom do we
feel that fervency of spirit in religious duties which God
requh'es ? How cool is our love to the greatest and the
?3est of beings ? How languid and indifferent are our
affections to the Son of God, the chiefest of ten thousand,
and altogether lovely ? And how much doth the devotion
of our cjouls want its proper ardor and vivacity ?
But when the soul is arrived at heaven, we shall be
all warm and fervent in our divine and delightful work.
As there shall be nothing painful to the senses in that
blessed climate, so there shall not be one cold heart
there, nor so much as one lukewarm worshipper ; for we
shall live under the immediate rays of God who formed
the liglit, and under the kindest influences of Jesus the
SSO NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.
Son of righteousness. We shall be made like his angels
who are most active spirits, and his ministers who are
fiames of fire : Psalm civ. 3. Nor shall any dulness or
indiflferency hang upon our sanctified powers and pas-
sions : they shall be all warm and vigorous in their ex-
ercise, amidst the holy enjoyments of that countiy.
In the 9th and last place, as night is the season ap-
pointed for sleep, so it becomes a constant periodical
emblem of death, as it returns every evening. Sleep
and midnight, as I have shewn before, are no seasons of
labor or activity, nor of delight in the visible things of
this world. It is a dark and stupid scene wherein we
behold nothing Avith truth, though we are sometimes
deceived and deluded by dreaming visions and vanities.
Night and the slumbers of it, are a sort of shorter death
and burial, interposed betw een the several daily scenes
and transactions of human life. But in heaven, as there
is no sleeping, there is no dying, nor is there any thing
there that looks like death. Sleep, the image or emblem
of tleath, is for ever banished from that world. All is
vital activity there. Every pow er is immortal, and every
thing that dwells there is for ever alive. There can be
no death, nor the image of it, w here the ever-living God
dw ells and shines with his kindest beams ; his presence
maintains perpetual vitality in every soul, and keeps the
new creature in its youth and vigor for ever. The saints
shall never have reason to mourn over their withering
graces, languid virtues, or dying comforts ; nor shall they
ever complain of drowsy faculties, or inactive pow ers,
where God and the Lamb are for ever present in the
midst of them. Shall I invite your thoughts to dwell a
little upon this sulrject?
Shall we make a more particular inquiry, whence it
eomes to pass that there is no night nor darkness in the
heavenly city ? We are told a little before the words of
my text, that the glory of God enlightens it, and the
NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. ggl
Lamh is the light thereof There is no need of the sun
hy day, or of the moon by night ; there is no need of any
such change of seasons as day and night in the upper
regions, nor any such alternate enlighteners of a dark
world, as God has placed in our firmament, or in this
visible sky. The inheritance of the saints in light is
sufficiently irradiated by God himself, who at his first
call made the light spring up out of darkness over a wide
chaos of confusion, before the sun and moon appeared ;
and tlie beams of divine light, grace and glory, are com-
municated from God, the original foundation of it, by the
Lamb, to all the inhabitants of the heavenly country.
It was by Jesus his Son that God made the light at first,
and by him he conveys it to all the happy worlds.
There is no doubt of this in the present heaven of
saints departed from flesh, who are ascended to the
spirits of the just made perfect . It is one of their priv-
ileges that they go to dwell, not only where they see the
face of God, but where they behold the glory of Christy
and converse wiih Jesus the Mediator of the new cove-
nant, and are for ever present with the Lord who
redeemed them ; Heb. xii. S3, 24 ; 3 Cor. v. 8. Since
his mediatorial kingdom and offices are not yet finished
in the present heaven of separate souls, we may depend
on this blessedness to ])e communicated through Christ,
the Lamb of God, and all the spiritual enjoyments and
felicities which are represented under the metaphor of
light, are conveyed to them through Jesus the Mediator.
The sun, in the natural world, is a bright emblem of
divinity or the Godhead, for it is the spring of all light, and
heat, and life, to the creation. It is by the influences of
the sun, that herbs, plants, and animals, are produced in
their proper seasons, and in all their various beauties ;
and they are all refreshed and supported by it. Now if
we should suppose this vast globe of fire wliich we call
the sun^ to be enclosed in a luige lioUow sphere of
322
NO NIGHT IN HBAVEN
clirystal, which shoukl attemper its rays like a trans-
parent vail, and give milder and gentler influences to the
burning beams of it, and yet transmit every desirable and
useful portion of light or heat, this would be an happy
emblem of tlie man Christ Jesus, in wJiom dwells all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily. It is the Lamb of God,
who, in a mild and gracious manner, conveys the bless-
ings originially derived from God his Father, to all the
saints. We partake of them in our measure, in this
lower world, among his churches here on earth ; but
it is with a nobler influence, and in a more sublime de-
gi'ee, the blessings of paradise are diflfiised through all
the mansions of glory, by this illustrious medium of con-
veyance, Jesus the Son of God ; and there can be no
night nor coldness, death nor darkness, in this happy
state of separate souls.
When the bodies of the saints shall be raised again,
and re-united to their proper spirits, when they shall
ascend to the place of their final heaven and supreme
happiness, we know not what manner of bodies they
sliall be, what sort of senses they shall be furnished
with, nor how many powers of conversing with the cor-
poreal world, shall be bestowed upon them. Whetlier
they shall have such organs of sensation as eyes and
ears, and stand in need of such light as we derive from
the sun or moon, is not absolutely certain. The scrip-
ture tells us, it shall not be a body of flesh and blood.
These are not materials refined enough for tlie heavenly
state ; that which is corruptible cannot inherit in corrup-
tion ; i Cor. XV. 50. But this we may be assured of,
that whatsoever inlets of knowledge, wliatever avenues
of pleasure, whatever deliglitful sensations are neces-
sary to make the inhabitants of that world happy, they
shall be all united in that spiritual body, which God
will prepare for the new raised saints. If eyes and ears
shall belong to that glorified body, those sensitive
NO NIGHT IN HEA.VEN.
powers shall be nobly enlarged, and made more delight-
fully susceptive of richer shares of knowledge and joy.
Or what if we shall have that body furnished with
such unknown mediums, or organs of sensation, as shall
make light and sound, such as we here partake of,
unnecessary to us ? These organs shall certainly be
such as shall transcend all the advantages that we receive
in this present state from sounds or sun beams. There
shall be no disconsolate darkness, nor any tiresome
silence there. There shall be no night to interrupt the
business or the pleasures of that everlasting day.
Or what if the whole body shall be endued all over
with the senses oi seeins; and hearing P What if these
sort of sensations shall be diffused throughout all that
immortal body, as feeling is diffused through all our
present mortal flesh ? What if God himself shall in a
more illustrious manner, irradiate all the powers of the
body and spirit, and communicate the light of knowledge,
holiness, and joy, in a superior manner to what we can
now conceive or imagine ? This is certain, that darkness
in every sense, with all the inconveniences and unhappy
consequences of it, is and must be for ever banished from
the heavenly state. There is no night there.
When our Lord Jesus Christ shall liave given up his
mediatorial kingdom to the Father, and have presented
all his saints spotless, and without blemish before his
throne, it is hard for us mortals in the present state, to
say how far he shall be the everlasting medium of the
communication of divine blessings to the happy inhabit-
ants on high. Yet when we consider that the saints and
angels, and the whole happy creation, are gathered
together in him as their head,* it is certain they shall all
be accounted in some sense his members. And it is
highly probable he, as their head, shall be for ever active
♦ The greek word ecvxKexXxiea, used in Eph. i. 10, favors this meaning^,
and perhaps Col. i. ^0, includes the same thing.
224i NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.
in communicatiiig and diffusing the uiikuown blessings of
that world, amongst all the inhabitants of it, who are
gathered and united in him.
I come in the last place^ to make a few remarks upon
the foregoing discourse ; and in order to render them
more effectual for our spiritual advantage, I shall con-
sider the words of my text, there shall be no night there,
in their metaphorical or spiritual meaning, as well as in
their literal sense. There is no night of ignorance or
error in the mind, no night of guilt or of sorrow in the
soul. But the blessed above shall dwell surrounded
with the light of divine knowledge, they shall walk
in the liglit of holiness, and they shall be for ever filled
with the liglit of consolation and joy, as I have explained
it at the beginning of this discourse.
The first remark then, is this ; Wheyi heaven, earth
and hell, are compared together, with relation to light
and darkness, or day and night, we then see them in
their proper distinctions and aspects. Every thing is
set in its most distinguishing situation and appearance,
when it is compared with things which are most
opposite.
The earth on which we dwell during this state of
trial, has neither all day, nor all night belonging to it ;
but sometimes light appears, and again darkness,
whether in a natural or a spiritual sense.
Though there be long seasons of darkness in the
winter, and darkness in the summer also, in its constant
returns, divides one day from another, yet the God of
nature has given us a larger portion of light, than there
is of darkness, throughout the whole globe of the earth.
And this benefit we receive ])y the remaining beams of
the sun after its setting, and by the assistance of the moon
and the stars of heaven. Blessed be Grod for the moon
and stars, as well as for the sun-beams, and the bright-
ness of noon. Blessed be God for all the lights of nature,
NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. 225
but we still bless him more for the light of the gospel, and
for any rays from heaven, any beams of the Sun of right-
eousness, which diffuse in lower measures, knowledge,
and holiness, and comfort, among the inhabitants of this
our world. God is here manifesting his love and grace
in such proportions as he thinks proper. Some beams
of the heavenly world break out upon us here in this
dark region. God, the spring of all our light, and the
Lamb of God by his Spirit communicates sufficient light
to us, to guide us on in our way to that heavenly country.
In hell there is all night and darkness, thick darkness,
in every sense, for the God of glory is absent there as to
any manifestations of liis face and favor. And therefore
it is often called utter darkness, where there is weepings
and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. There is no lioli-
ness, there is no comfort, there are no benefits of the
creation, no blessings of grace ; all are forfeited and gone
for ever. It is everlasting night and blackness of dark-
ness in that world — horror of soul, without a beam of
refreshment from the face of God or the Lamb, for ever.
The devils are now reserved in everlasting chains under
darkness to the judgment of the great day ; Jude 6. But
then their confinement shall be closer, and their dark-
ness, guilt, and sorrow, shall be more overwhelming.
Is it lawful for me in this place, to mention the descrip-
tion which Milton our English poet gives of their
wretched habitation.
A dungeon horrible on all sides round,
As one great furnace flam'd ; yet from those flames
No liglit, but rather darkness visible
Serv'd only to discover sis^-bts of woe ;
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell ; hope never comes.
That comes to all. But torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery deluge fed
With ever burning sulphur unconsum'd.
Such place eternal jiibtice had piepared
For rebel angels ; here there pn.s*ii ordain'd
29
226 NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.
In utter darkness, and their portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of heaven
As from the centre thrice to th' utmast pole.
To this the poet adds,
O how unlike the place from whence they fell !
How unlike to that heaven which 1 have been de-
scribing, in which there is no night ; and all the evils
of darkness in every sense are for ever secluded from
that happy region, where knowledge, holiness, and joy,
are all inseparable and immortal.
2. Remark. What light of every kind we are made
partakers of here on earth, let us use it with holy thank-
fulness, with zeal and religious improvement. Hereby
we may be assisted and animated to travel on, through
the mingled stages and scenes of light and darkness, in
this world, till we arrive at the inheritance of the saints
in perfect light. It is a glorious blessing to this dark
world, that the light of Christianity is added to the light
of Judaism, and tiie light of nature ; and that the law of
Moses, and the gospel of Christ, are set before us in
this nation in their distinct views, on purpose to make
our way to happiness more evident and easy. May the
song of Moses, and the song of the Lamb, be sung in
our land ! Bat let us never rest satisfied, till the light
that is let into our minds become a spring of divine life
within us, a life of knowledge, holiness, and comfort.
Let us not be found amongst the number of those, who
when light is come into the world, love darkness rather
than light,\esi we fall under their condemnation; John iii.
19. Let us never rest till we see the evidences of the
children of God wrought in us with power ; till the day-
spring that has visited us from on high has entered into
our spirits, and refined and moulded them into the divine
image ; till we who arc by nature all darkness are made
light in the Lord.
O what a 1)lessed. change does the converting grace
NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. gS7
of Christ make in the soul of a son or daughter of Adam ?
It is like the beauty and pleasure which the rising morn-
ing diffuses over the face of the earth, after a night of
storm and darkness ; it is so much of heaven let into
all the chambers of the soul ; it is then only that we
begin to know ourselves aright, and know God in his
most awful and most lovely manifestations ; it is in this
light we see the hateful evil of every sin, the beauty of
holiness, the worth of the gospel of Christ, and of his
salvation. It is a light that carries divine heat and life
with it ; it renews all the powers of the sph'it, and in-
troduces holiness, hope and joy, in the room of folly
and guilt, sin, darkness, and sorrow.
S. Remark. If God has wrought this sacred and di-
vine change in our souls, if we are made the children of
light, or if we profess to have felt this change, and hope
for an interest in this bright inheritance of the saints, let
us put aicaij all the ivorks of darkness ivitli hatred and
detestatioyi. Let us walk in the light of truth and holi-
ness, Eph. 5. 8. Ye were once darkness ; hut are now
light in the Lord ; walk as children of light. And the
apostle repeats his exhortation to the Thessalonians in
1 Epistle 5th chapter and the 5th verse. Ye ai^ all
children of the light and of the day, and not the sons of
night or darkness ; therefore let us not sleep as others
do, but let us watch and be sober ,* putting on the breast-
plate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of
salvation, for God hath not appointed us to wrath, hut
to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
To animate every christian to tliis holy care and
watchfulness, let us think what a terrible disappoint-
ment it will be, after we have made a bright profession
of cliristianity in our lives, to lie down in death in a
state of sin and guilt, and to awake in tlie world of
spirits, in the midst of the groans and agonies of hell,
surrounded and covered with everlasting darkness. Let
SS8 NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.
our public profession be as illustrious and bright as it
will, yet if we indulge works of darkness in secret,
night and darkness will be our eternal portion, with the
anguish of conscience, and the terrors of the Almiglity,
without one glimpse of hope or relief. It is only tliose
who walk in the light of holiness here who can be fit to
dwell in tlie presence of a God of holiness hereafter.
Light is sown only for the righteous, and joy for the
upright in heart ; and it shall break out one day from
amongst the clods, a glorious harvest ; but only the sons
and the daughters of light shall taste of the blessed
fruits of it.
Think again with yourselves when you are tempted
to sin and folly, what if I should be cut oif on a sudden,
practising the works of darkness, and my soul be sum-
moned into the eternal world, covered with guilt and
defilement ? Shall I then be fit for the world of light ?
Will the God of light ever receive me to his dwelling ?
Do I not hereby render myself unfit company for the
angels of light ? and what if I should be sent down to
dwell among the spirits of darkness, since I have imita-
ted their sinful manners, and obeyed their cursed influ-
ences ?
O may such thoughts as these dwell upon our spirits
with an awful solemnity, and be a perpetual guard
against defiling our garments with any iniquity, lest our
Lord should come and find us thus polluted. Let us
walk onwards in the paths of light, which are discovered
to u«! in the word of God, and which are illustrated by
his holy ordinances, to guide us through the clouds and
shades which attend us in this wilderness, till our Lord
Jesus shall come with all his surrounding glories, and
take us to the full possession of the inheritance in light.
Remark 4. Under our darkest nights, our most
inactive and heavy hours, our mo^t uncomfortahle
seasons here on earth, let us remember we are trav-
elling to a icorld of light and joy. If we happen to
NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.
lie awake in midnight darkness, and count the tedious
hours one after another, in a mournful succession, under
any of the maladies of nature, or the sorrows of this life,
let us comfort ourselves that we are not shut up in eternal
night and darkness without hope, but we are still making
our way towards that country where there is no night,
where there is neither sin nor pain, malady nor sorrow.
What if the blessed God is pleased to try us, by the
withholding of light from our eyes for a season ? What
if we are called to seek our duty in dark providencies,
or are perplexed in deep and difficult controversies
wherein we cannot flind the light of truth? What if we
sit in darkness and mourning, and see no light, and the
beams of divine consolation are cut off, let us still trust
in the name of the Lord, and stay ourselves tipon our
God, especially as he manifests himself in the Lamb
that was slain, the blessed medium of his' mercy ; Isaiah
1. 10. Let us learn to say with the Prophet MicaJi in the
spirit of faith, Micah vii. 8. 9 ; "When I sit in dark-
ness the Lord will be a light unto me ; he will bring me
forth to the light, and 1 shall behold his righteousness."
Blessed be God that the night of ignorance, grief, or
affliction, which attends us in this world, is not ever-
lasting night. Heaven and glory are at hand ; wait
and watch for the morning star, for Jesus and the resur-
rection. Roll on apace in your appointed course ye suns
and moons, and all ye twinkling inligteners of the sky,
carry on the changing seasons of light and darkness in
this lower world with your utmost speed, till you have
finished all my appointed months of continuance here.
The light of faith shews me the dawning of that glorious
day, which shall finish all my nights and darkness for
ever. Make haste, O deli2;htful morning, and delay
not my hopes. Let me hasten, let me arrive at that
blessed inheritance, those mansions of paradise, where
night is never known, but one eternal day shall make
our knowledge, our holiness, and our joy, eternal. Amen.
DISCOURSE Till.
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
2 COR. V. 5.
JS''oio he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing,
is God.
WHEN this apostle designs to entertain our hope
in the noblest manner, and raise our faitli to its highest
joys, he generally calls our thoughts far away from all
present and visible things, and sends them forward to
the great and glorious day of the resurrection. He
points our meditations to take a distant prospect of the
final and complete happiness of the saints in heaven,
when their bodies shall be raised shining and immortal :
"whereas it is but seldom tliat he takes notice of the
heaven of separate souls, or that part of our future hap-
piness which commences at the hour of death. But in
this chapter, the holy writer seems to keep both these
heavens in his eye, and speaks of that blessedness with
which the spirits of the just shall enjoy in the presence
of the Lord, as soon as they are absent from the body,
and yet leads our souls onwards also to our last and
most perfect state of happiness, which is delayed till our
corruptible bodies shall be raised from the dust, and
mortality shall be swallowed up in life. We knoiv,
saith he in the first verse of this chapter, we knoic that
as soon as our mortal tabernaclej in which we now
dwell, is dissolved, we have a building ready for us in the
heavens ; that is, an investure in a glorious state of holi-
ness and immortality, which waits to receive our spirits
when we drop this dying flesh. Yet the felicities of this
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. 131
paradise, or first lieaveii; shall receive an unspeakable
addition and advancement, wlien Christ shall come the
second time, with all his saints, to complete our salva-
tion.
But which heaven soever we arrive at, whether it be
tliis of the separate state, or that when our bodies shall
be restored, still we must be wrought up to a proper
fitness for it by God himself ; and as the end of this verse
tells us, he gives us his own Spirit as an earnest of these
future blessings.
The observation which shall be the subject of my
discourse, is this ; Those who shall enjoy the heavejily
blessedness hereafter, must be prepared for it here in
this world, by the operation of the blessed God.
Here we must take notice in the first place, that since
we are sinful and guilty creatures in ourselves, and
have forfeited all our pretences to the favor of God and
happiness, we must be restored to his favor, we must
have our sins forgiven, we must be justified in his sight
with an everlasting righteousness, we must be adopted
as the children of God, and have a right and title given
us to the heavenly inheritance, before we can enter into
it, or possess it ; and this blessing is procured for us by
the obedience and death of the Son of God. It is in his
blood that we find an atonement for our iniquities ; and
we must be made heirs of glory, by becoming the
adopted children of God, aud so ive are joint heirs with
his Son Jesus, and shall be glorified with him ; Rom.
viii. ±7-
And it is by a true and living faith in the Son of God,
that we become partakers of this blessing. God has set
forth liis Son Jesus as a jjropitiation for sinners through
faith in his blood ; Rom. iii. 24. We are justified by
faith in liis blood, and have hove of eternal life through
him ; Rom. v. We also receive our adoption, and
become the children of God through faith in Christ
13S
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
Jpsus ; Gal. iii. 26 ; and tlieueby we obtain a title to
some mansion in our Father's house in heaven, since
Jesus, our elder brother, and our forerunner, is admitted
into it to take a place there in our name. This is a
very considerable part of our necessary preparation for
the heavenly world, that we should be believers in the
Son of God, and united to him by a living faith ; and
i\\i^ faith also is the gift of God ; Eph. ii. 8. We are
wrought up to it by his grace.
But as this does not seem to be the chief thing designed
in the words of my text, I shall pass it over thus briefly,
and apply myself to consider what that further fitness or
preparation for heaven intends, for which we are said
here to he wrought up by God himself. The former
preparation for heaven, may rather be said to be a rel-
ative change, which is included in our pardon or justifi-
cation, and alters our state from the condemnation of hell,
to the favor and love of God. But this latter prepar-
ation implies a real change of our nature by sanctifying
grace, and gives us a temper of soul suited to the
business and blessedness of the heavenly world. This
is the preparation which my text speaks of.
The great enquiry therefore, at present is. What are
those steps, or gradual operations, by which the blessed
God works us up to this jitness for heaven P
And here I shall not run over all the parts and linea-
ments of the new creature, which is formed by regener-
ation, nor the particular operations of converting grace,
whereby we are convinced of sin, and led to faith and
repentance, and new obedience, though these are all
necessary to this end ; but I shall confine myself only
to those things which have a more immediate reference
to the heavenly blessednesss ; and they are such as
follow.
1. ^* God works iis up to a preparation for the
heavenly felicity, by establishing and confirming our
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. §33
belief, that there is a heaven provided for the saints, and
by giving us some clearer acquaintance with the nature^
the business, and the blessedness of this heaven.'' All
this is done by the gospel of Ciirist, and by the secret
operation of the blessed God, teaching us to understand
his gospel,
Alas ! how ignorant were the heathen sages about any
future state for the righteous ? How bewildered were
the best of them in all their imaginations ? How vain
were all their reasonings upon this subject, and how little
satisfaction could they give to an honest enquirer,
whether there was any reward provided for good men
beyond this life ? The light of nature was tlieir guide ;
and those in whom this feeble taper burnt with the fairest
lustre, were still left in great darkness about futurity.
As the Gentile philosophers were left in great uncertain-
ties whether there was any heaven or no, so were their
conceptions of heavenly things very absurd and ridic-
ulous ; and their various fancies about the nature and
enjoyments of it, were all impertinence.
And how little knowledge had the patriarchs them-
selves, if we may judge of their knowledge by the five
books of Moses, which give no plain and express promise
of future happiness in another world, neither to Abel nor
Noah, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or to Moses himself ?
And were it not for some expressions in the New Tes-
tament, and by the xith chapter to the Hebrews, where
we are told, that these good men sought a heavenly coun-
try^ and hoped for happiness in a future and invisible
state, we should sometimes be ready to doubt whether
they knew almost any thing of the future resurrection
and glory.
That great and excellent man, Job, had one or two
lucid intervals of peculiar brightness, which shone upon
him from heaven, in the midst of his distresses, and
raised him above and beyond the common level of the
30
334 A SOUL PREPARED I'OR HEAVEN.
dispensation he lived in ; yet, in the main, when he
describes the state of the dead, how desolate and dole-
some is his language, and what heavy darkness hangs
upon his hope ! See his expression. Job x. SI, 22 ;
^^ Let me alone that I may take comfort a little, before
I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of dark-
ness and the shadow of death, a land of darkness as
darkness itself, and of the shadow of death, without any
order, and where the light is as darkness." Mark how
this good man heaps one darkness upon another, and
makes so formidable a gloom as was hardly to be dis-
pelled by the common notices given to men in that age.
And if we look into the Jewish writings in and after
the days of Moses, we find the men of righteousness
frequently entertained with promises of corn, and wine,
and oil, and other blessings of sense ; and few there
were amongst them who saw clearly, and firmly be-
lieved the heavenly inheritance through the types, and
shadows, and figures of Canaan, the promised land,
which flowed with milk and honey.
It is granted there are some hints and discoveries of
a blessedness beyond the grave in the writings of David,
Isaiah, Daniel, and some of the prophets. But the
brightest of these notices fall far short of what the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ has set before us. The Son of
God, who came down from heaven, where he had lived
from before the creation of this world, has revealed to
us infinitely more of the invisible state tlian all that went
before him. He tells us of the /^itre iri heart enjoying
the sight of God^ and conversing with Mraham, Isaac*
and Jacob, the ancient saints. He assures us there are
many mansions in his Father^s house, and that he went
to prepare a place there for his followers. I tell you,
says he, John viii. 38, 1 tell you the things ivliich I have
seen ivith my Father. And when he came again from
the dead, he made it appear to his disciples that he had
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN, 2S5
brought life and immortality to light by his gospel;
2 Timothy i. 10.
It is only the New Testament that gives us so bright
and satisfactory an account what our future heaven is.
The righteous shall be with God, shall behold him, shall
dwell with Christ, and see his glory ; they shall worship
day and night in his temple, and sing tlie praises of
him that sits upon the throne, and of the Lamb that has
redeemed them by his blood ; there shall be no sin, no
sorrow, no death, nor any more pain ; they shall have
such satisfactions and employments as are wortliy of a
rational nature, and a soul reiined from sense and sin.
St. Paul, one of his disciples, was transported into tlie
third heaven before he died, and their learnt unspeakable
things ; % Cor. xii. S, 4 ; and he, together with the other
apostles, have published the glories of that future world
which they learnt from Jesus their Lord, and confirmed
these tilings to our faith by prophecies and miracles
without number.
Now the blessed God himself prepares his own
people for this heaven of happiness, by giving them
a full conviction, and assurance of the truth of all these
divine discoveries ; he impresses them upon their heart
with power, and makes them attend to those divine im-
pressions. Every true christian has learnt to say within
himself, " This celestial blessedness is no dream, is no
painted vision, no gay scene of flattering fancy, nor is it
a matter of doubtful dispute, or uncertain opinion. lam
assured of it from the words of Christ the Son of God,
and from his blessed followers, whom he authorised to
teach me the things of a future world." He that is
taught of God beholds these glories in the light of a
divine faith, which is to him the substance of things hoped
for, and the evidence of things not yet seen ; Heb. xi. 1.
S. God works up the souls of his people to a prepara-
tion for the lieavenly state, h^ purifying them from every
236 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
defilement 4hat might unfit them for the blessedness of
heaven. The removal of the guilt of sin by his pardon-
ing mercy I have mentioned before, as necessary to our
entrance into the heavenly state ; and we must walk
through this world, this defiling world, with all holy
watchfulness, lest our soul be blemished with new pol-
lutions, lest new guilt come upon our consciences, and
the thoughts of appearance before God be terrible to us.
That soul is very much unfit for an entrance into the
presence of a holy Grod, who is ever plunging itself
into new circumstances of guilt, by a careless and unholy
conversation. To stand upon the borders of life, and
the very edge of eternity, will be dreadful to those who
have given themselves a loose to criminal pleasures, and
indulged their irregular appetites and passions.
But it is not only a conscience purged from the guilt
of sin by the blood of Christ, but a soul washed also
from the defiling power and taint of sin by the sanctify-
ing spirit that is necessary to make us meet for the
heavenly inheritance. This is that purification which I
now chiefly intend ; Matthew v. 8 ; " Blessed are the
pure in heart for they shall see God." JSTothing that
defileth must enter into the city of God on high, nor who-
soever maketh a lie or loveth it ; Rev. xxi. 27. No
injustice, no falsehood, no guile or deceit can be admit-
ted within those gates. They must be without guile
both in their heart and tongue, if they will stand before
the throne of God ; Rev. xiv. 5 ; sincerity and truth of
soul, with all the beauties of an upright heart and char-
acter, are necessary to prepare an inhabitant for that
blessed state. There must be no envy, no wrath or
malice, no revenge, nor any of the angry principles that
dwell in our flesh and blood, or that inflame and disturb
the mind, will be found in those regions of peace and
love. There must be no pride or ambition, no self-ex-
altation and vanity that can dwell in heaven, for it cast
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. S37
out the angels of glorious degree, when they would exalt
themselves above their own station. Pnde tvas the con-
demnation of the devil, and it must not dwell in a human
heart that ever hopes for a heavenly dwelling-place,
1 Tim. iii. 6 ; and Jude verse 6. There must be no
sensual and intemperate creature there, no covetous
selfishness, no irregular passions, no narrowness of soul,
no uncharitable and party spirit will ever be found in
that country of diflTusive love and joy.
And since the best of christians have had the seeds
of many of these iniquities in their hearts, and they have
made a painful complaint of these rising corruptions of
nature upon many occasions, these iniquities must be
mortified and slain by the work of the spirit of God
within us, if ever we ourselves would live the divine
life of heaven; Romans viii. 13. There is a great deal
of this purifying work to be done in the souls of all
of us, before we can be prepared for the heavenly world,
and though we cannot arrive at perfection liere, yet we
must be wrouglit up to a temper in some measure fit to
enter into that blessedness. And God is training his
people up for this purpose all the days of their travels
through this desert world. Happy souls, who feel
themselves more and more released from the bonds of
these iniquities, day by day, and thereby feel within
themselves the growing evidencies of a joyful hope !
3. God does not only purify us from every sin in
order to prepare us for heaven, but he is ever loosening
and weaning our hearts from all those lawful things in
this life, which are not to be enjoyed in heaven. Our
sensual appetites, and our carnal desires, so far as they
are natural, though not sinful, must die before we can
enter into eternal life. Flesh and blood cannot inherit
that divine, incorruptible, and refined happiness. Rich-
es and treasures of gold and silver which the rust can
corru])t, and which thieves can break through and steal,
338 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
are not provided for the heavenly state. They are all
of the earthly kind^ and too mean for the relish of a
heavenly spirit. Although a christian may possess
many of these things in the present life, yet his affections
must he divested of them, and his soul divided from
them, if he would be a saint indeed, and ever ready for
the purer blessings of paradise. The business, the
cares and the concerns of this secular life, are ready to
drink up our spirits too much while we are here ; we
are too prone to mingle our very souls with them, and
thereby grow unfit for heavenly felicities. And there-
fore it is that our Saviour has warned us ; Luke xxi. B4<.
Let not your hearts be overcharged with the cares of
this worldy any more than with surfeiting and drunken-
ness, if you would be always ready for your flight to a
better state, and meet the summons of your Lord to
paradise.
There are also many curious speculations and delight-
ful amusements which may lawfully entertain us while
we are here ; there are sports and recreations which
may divert the flesh or the mind in a lawful manner^
whilst we dwell in tabernacles of flesh and blood, and
are encompassed with mortal things. But the soul that
is wrought for heaven must arise to an holy indifference
to all the entertainments of flesh and sense, and time, if
it would put on the appearance of an heavenly inhabi-
tant. Christians that would be ever ready for the glo-
ries of a better world must be such in some measure as
the apostle describes ; 1 Cor. vii. 29? ^c. They must
rejoice with such moderation in their dearest comforts of
life as though they rejoiced not, they must weep and
mourn for the loss of them with such a divine self-gov-
ernment as though they wept not, they must buy as
though they possessed not, they must use this world as
not abusing it in any instance, but must look upon the
fashions and the scenes of it as vanishing things, and
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. 239
Lave their hearts set on the things that are above where
Christ Jesus is at the Father^s right hand ; Collossians
iii. 1, 2.
If you ask me what methods the blessed God uses in
order to attain these ends, and to purify and refine the
soul for heaven ? I answer, he sometimes does it by sharp
strokes of affliction, making our interests in the creature
bitter to us, that we may be weaned from the relish of
them, and the power of divine grace must accompany all
his weaning providences, or the work will not be done.
Sometimes again he weans tlie soul from the lawful
things of this world, by permitting our earthly enjoy-
ments to plunge us into difficulties, to seize the heart
witli anxieties, or to surround us with sore temptations ;
then, when we feel ourselves falling into sin, and bruised
or defiled thereby, we lose our former gust of pleasure
in them ; and when we are recovered by divine grace,
we are more effectually weaned from such kind of temp-
tations for the future ; but it is impossible in the com-
pass of a few lines to describe the various methods which
the blessed God uses to wean the spirit from all its
earthly attachments, and to work it up to a meetness for
the inheritance of the saints in light. Blessed souls,
who are thus loosened and weaned from sensible things^
though it be done by painful sufferings !
4. The great God not only weans our hearts from
those things that are not to be enjoyed in heaven, but
he gives us a holy appetite and relish suited to the pro-
visions of the heavenly world, and raises our desires and
tendencies of soul toitmrds them. By nature our minds
are estranged from God, and from all that is divine and
holy ; we have no desires after his love, nor delight in
the thoughts of dwelling with God : but when divine
grace has effectually touched the heart, it ever tends
upwards to that world of holiness and peace. So the
needle, when it is touched by the load-stone, ever points
34)0 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
to the beloved pole-star, and seems uneasy when it is
diverted from it, nor will it rest till it return thither
again.
Do the sweet sensations of divine love make up a
great part of the heavenly blessedness ? The soul is in
some measure fitted for it, who can say with David in
Psalm iv. 7 ; " Lord lift thou up upon me the light of thy
countenance, and it shall rejoice my heart more than if
corn, and wine, and oil abounded, and all earthly bles-
sings were multiplied upon me ; for in thy love is the
life of my soul, and thy loving kindness is better than
life ; Psalm Ixiii.
Is the felicitating presence of God to be enjoyed in the
future world, and shall we see bis face there with un-
speakable delight ? Then those souls are prepared for
heaven, who can say with the Psalmist, Psalm xliii. 2 ;
Tf hen sdall I come and appear before God P When
shall I have finished my travels through this wilderness,
that I may arrive at my Father's liouse ? This one thing
have I destined, that I may dtcell in the house of God for
ever to behold the beauty of the Lord there ; Psal. xxvii.
4. It is enough for me that I shall behold thy face in
righteousness, and I shall be satisfied u'hen I awake out
of the dust ivith thy likeness. With my soul have I de-
sired thee, O Lord, in the night, in the darkness of this
desert world I have longed for the light of thy face, and
with my spirit within me, I will seek thee early. Whom
have I in heaven but thee, neither is there any on earth
that I desire beside thee ; Psalm xvii ; Isaiah xxvi ;
Psalm Ixxiii. O when shall the day come, when there
shall be no more distance and estrangement of my heart
from God, but I shall feel all my powers for ever near
him ?
Is the sweet society of Jesus to be enjoyed in the
heavenly region, then those are prepared for this hap-
piness who feel in themselves a desire to deimrt] and to
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. 24*1
be with Christ, which is far better than the most pleasur-
able scenes on earth ; Phil. i. S3. I am willing and
rejoice in the thought of it, rather to he absent from the
body, and to be jiresent u-ith the Lord / 2 Cor. v. 8. I
behold in the light of faith the dawning glory of that
day, when Jesus shall return from heaven, when he
shall revisit this wretched world, and put an end to these
wretched scenes of vanity. Behold he cometh in the
clouds, and every eye shall see him. He comes into our
world to them that look for him, not to be made a sacri-
fice for sin, but to complete our salvation. I long to
behold him, and I love the thought of liis appearance ;
Rev. i. Heb. ix. 2 Tim. iv. &c.
Is there not only a freedom from pain and sorrow
among the saints on high, but is there also an eternal
release from all the bonds of sin and temptation ? Then
that soul discovers a degree of preparation for it, w^ho
can say with an holy groan and grief of heart, 0 wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of
sin and death P Rom. vii. In this tabernacle ice groan
indeed, being burdened, and are desirous rather to be
clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, with
our holy state of immortality ; S Cor. v.
5. That God who has w rought these divine breathings
in the soul, will one day fulfil them all ; and he is
working up the christian to a blessed meetness for this
felicity, by awakening these wishes in the very centre of
the heart. Kappy heart, which feels these holy aspi-
rations, these divine breathings !
6. The blessed God is pleased to work us up to a
preparation for the heavenly world, by forming the tem-
per of our minds into a likeness to the inhabitants of
heaven ; that is, to God himself, to Christ Jesus, the Son
of God, to angels and saints, to the spirits of the just
made perfect. From the children of folly and sin, we
must be transformed into the children of God j we must
81
22^ A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
be created anew after his image, and resemble our
heavenly Father, thal^ve may be capable of enjoying
his love, and rejoicing in his presence. We must be
conformable to the image of his only begotten Son Christ
Jesus, and walk and live as he did in this world, that
we may be prepared to dwell with him in the world to
come ; Rom. viii. 29, 1 John iv. 17- We must have
the same temper and spirit of holiness wrought in us,
that we may be imitators of all the holy ones that dwell
in heaven, and that we may be followers of the saints
who have been strangers and travellers in this world, in
all former ages.
How can we hope to have free conversation with
glorious beings, which are so unlike to ourselves, as
God, and Christ, and angels, are unlike to the sinful
children of men ? How can we imagine ourselves to be
fit company for such pure and perfect beings, beauteous,
and shining in holiness, while we are defiled with the
iniquities of our natures, and ever falling into new guilt
and pollution ? Happy souls, who can say through
grace, I have walked in the light as God is in the light,
and I trust, O Father, I shall dwell for ever with tliee
there. I have been a follower of the Lamb through the
thorny and rugged passages of this wilderness, and 1
humbly hope 1 shall sit with thee, O Jesus, upon a throne
glorious and holy. I have been a companion of thera
who have finished the Christian race, who have fouglit
the good fight, and obtained the victory : and I trust I
shall have a name and a place amongst all you holy
ones who have fought and overcome. O for a hearfc and
tongue furnished for such appeals to all the blessed in-
habitants of paradise, the possessors of tiiosc mansions
on high !
7. The grace of God works us up to a preparation
for heaven by carrying us through those trials and suf-
ferings, those labors and conflicts here in this life, u'hich
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. 343
will Tiot only make heaven the sweeter to us, hut ivill
make it more honorable for God himself to hestow this
heaven upon its.
Wlien the spirits of a creature are almost worn out
with the toilsome labors of the day, what an additional
sweetness does he find in rest and repose? What an
inward relish and satisfaction to the soul, that has been
fatigued under a long and tedious war with sins and
temptations, to be transported to such a place where sin
cannot follow them, and temptation can never reach
them? How will it enhance all the felicities of the
heavenly world when we enter into it, to feel ourselves
released from all the trials, and distresses, and sufierings
wliicli we have sustained in our travels thitherwards ?
The review of the waves and the storms wherein we had
been tossed for a long season, and had been almost ship-
wrecked there, will make the peaceful haven of eternity,
to which we shall arrive, much more agreeable to every
one of the suiferers. 2 Cor. iv. 17; Our light affiictions,
which are hut for a moment, are in this way, ivorking
for us afar more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
and preparing us for the possession of it.
But it should be added also, that the prize of life, and
the crown of glory, is much more honorably bestowed
on those who have been long figliting, running, and la-
])oring to obtain it. Heaven will appear as a condecent
reward of all the faithful servants of God upon earth,
and a divine recompence of their labors and sufferings ;
S Thes. i. 6 ; " As it is a righteous thing with God to
recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, so to
give to those who are troubled rest" and salvation.
This is tliat equitable or condecent fitness that God, as
governor of the world, has wisely appointed and made
necessary before our entrance into heaven. Christ him-
self, our forerunner, and the captain of our salvation,
was made perfect through his sufferings^ and was trained
244 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN
up for his throne on high, by enduring the contradiction
of sinners, and the variety of agonies which attended his
life and death in this lower world, this stage of conflict
and sufferings. See Heb. ii. 10. and xii. 1.
Though we cannot pretend by our labors in the race
to have merited the prize, yet we must labor through the
race before we receive it. Our conflicts cannot pretend
to have deserved the crown which is promised, but we
must fight the battles of the Lord before we obtain it.
This was St. Paul's encouragement and hope ; 2 Tim.
iv. 7? 8 ; "I have fought the good fight, I have finished
my course, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid
up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the
righteous Judge will give me, and not to me only, but to
all those who love his appearance." There is a great
deal of divine wisdom in this appointment, that the
children of God may be ^^ counted in this sense, worthy
of his kingdom for which they also suiFer ; 2 Thes. i. 5 ;
and that the relish of those satisfactions may be doubled
to all the sufferers.
8. God yet further prepares and works up his people
for heaven, by teaching them some of the employments
of the heavenly world, and initiating and inuring them to
the practice thereof. Is the contemjdation of the blessed
God in his nature and his various perfections the business
of glorified souls ? God teaches his children, whom he
is training up for glory, to practise this holy contempla-
tion. He fixes their thoughts upon the wonders of his
nature and his grace, his works of creation and prov-
idence, the blessings of his redeeming love by his Son
Jesus, and the terrors of his justice, which shall be ex-
ecuted by the same hand, while the soul at the same
time, can appeal to God with holy delight. My medita-
tion of thee shall be sweet indeed ; O may I dwell fot'
ever in the midst of tliy light, and see all thy wondrous
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN, ^40
glories diffused around me^ and make my joys ever-
lasting !
Are we told that heaven consists also in beholding the
glory of Christ / John xvii. 24. And how happily does
God prepare his saints for this part of heaven, by filling
their thoughts with the various graces and honors of
Jesus the Saviour ? And when they are in their lonely
retirements, they trace the footsteps of their beloved
through all his labors and sorrows in this mortal state,
even from his cradle to his cross ; they follow him in their
holy meditations to his agonies in the garden, to his an-
guish of soul there ; through all his sufferings in death,
through the grave his bed of darkness, and trace him on
still to his glorious, resurrection, and to his ascent to his
Father's house, when a bright cloud, like a chariot, bore
him up to heaven with attending angels. 2Viis is my
beloved, says the soul, and this is my friend, whom I
shall see with joy in the upper world. He is altogether
lovely, and he demands my highest love.
Is it part of the happiness of heaven to converse with
the blessed God by holy addresses of acknowledgements
and praise, as it is described in Rev. iv. and v. and vii.
^' They are before the throne of God day and night, and
serve him in his temple," and join with holy joy to pro-
nounce that divine song, " Blessing and honor, and glory
and power, be to him that sitteth on the throne, and to
the Lamb for ever and ever. Worthy art thou, O Lord,
to receive glory and honor, for thou hast created all
things for thy pleasure : worthy is the Lamb that was
slain to receive power, and riches, and strength, glory and
blessing, for thou was slain, and hast redeemed us unto
God by thy blood out of every kindred and nation." Now
it is evident that those whose hearts and lips are joyfully
fitted to pronounce this holy song, and to join in this
harmony, is fitted also for these blessed employments of
the heavenly state : and yet at the same time they abase
246 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
themselves in the dust of humility, and with tlie living
creatures or angels they fall down before the throne, and
with the elders they cast down their crowns at his foot
they confess themselves the sons of earth and dust, and
would appear as nothing while Grod is all ; Rev. iv. 9,
10, and V. 8.
Are all the powers of glorified nature in heaven active
in tlie unknown services of God and Christ there ? So
the Saints are trained up for this service and this activity
here on earth, by diligence and delight in their less
noble employments, the inferior labors and duties that
providence demands of them here, whereby they are
prepared for more glorious employment on high ; for
heaven is no idle or inactive state.
Do some of the satisfactions of the heavenly world
arise from the sweet society of the blessed above, their
fervent love to eacli other, tlieir mutual delight in holy
converse, the joy that arises in tlie heart of each upon a
survey of the happiness of all the holy and blessed in-
habitants ? Does benevolence and goodness of every
kind overflow in the heavenly world ? It is plain that
God is training up his own children for this blessedness,
by employing them in this manner while they are here
below : he is in some measure fitted for this heaven,
who can say, the saints are the excellent of the earthy in
whom is all my delight. I love them from my soul,
because they love my God and my Saviour. I see the
image of the Father, and of Jesus his Son in thera, and
I cannot but love that image wheresoever I behold it.
I feel myself ready to rejoice when my fellow christians
partake of joy, and I long for that temper of mind when
I shall delight myself in the felicity of all my fellow
saints in perfection, and shall make their heaven a part
of my own. Bat I proceed not here, because tliis would
anticipate what I design hereafter.
9. God is pleased to work up his people to a prepar-
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN, 247
ation for the heavenly state, by giving them a pledge and
earnest of the blessedness of heaven^ that is, by sending
his own spirit into their hearts under this very charac-
ter, both as the spring of a divine life, and as the evi-
dence of our hope, and sometimes bestowing upon them
such foretastes of the heavenly world, by the operations of
his holy spirit, which are too joyful and glorious to be
fully expressed in mortal language ; but we shall attempt
something of it in another discourse.
I proceed now to seek what inferences or edifying
remarks may be made upon our meditations thus far.
Remark 1. We learn from my text what are the
brightest, the plainest, and the surest evidences of our
interest in the heavenly blessedness. Are ive trained up
to it, and prejjaredfor it f Has the blessed God wrought
up our souls to any hopeful degrees of this preparation ?
Has he in any measure made us meet for tliis inheritance
of the saints in light ?
I grant the scripture teaches us, that it is ]>y a true and
living faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, tJiat we obtain a
title to eternal life, according to the proposals of the
covenant of grace in the gospel ; but our preparation for
heaven by a holy and heavenly temper of mind and
conduct of life, is the fairest and most incontested evi-
dence of the truth and life of our faith, and such a proof
of it as will stand the test both in life and deatii, in this
world, and in the world to come. If we would manifest
our faith in Christ to be sincere and genuine and effec-
tual for our salvation, we must make it appear that we
are growing up into tlie image of Christ in all things,
we must be formed after tlie likeness of the Son of God,
who is our great example, and our fore-runner into
heaven ; and where this evidence is found the soul cannot
fail of salvation. Wheresoever there is this fitnf ss for
the joys on high, God will assuredly bestow these divine
pleasures. It is for such souls that he has prepared a
24B A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
heaven, and when he has prepared such souls for the
heavenly world, he will surely bring them to the pos-
session of it.
Of how great moment and importance is it then for
each of us to examine ourselves with watchful diligence
and sincerity, whether we are in any measure iitted for
the blessedness above. And to this end we may run
over in our inquiries all the former steps of preparation.
Let us inquire of our souls then, am I so fully per-
suaded of this state of future happiness, as to resolve,
this shall be my aim, tliis my everlasting pursuit ? Have
we seen this blessedness in the various representations
of it in the word of God, as the most amiable and desira-
ble thing, and have we set our faces to travel tiiither
with an holy purpose and determination, through grace,
never to tire, or grow weary till we arrive at tlie enjoy-
ment of it ? Have we fixed our hope and expectation
upon the blessed promises in the word, and are we by
these promises, endeavoring daily to cleanse ourselves
from all defilements of flesh and spirit, and to perfect
lioliness in the fear of G od ? Do we obtain any victories
over our spiritual enemies, and maintain our pious con-
flicts against all the oppositions which we meet with in our
way ? Do we labor to suppress every rising ferment of
envy, pride, wrath, sensuality, and those corrupt appe-
tites and passions which render us unfit for that lioly and
heavenly world ? Are your hearts daily more mortified
to the things of tliis world, the enjoyments of flesh and
sense, which are not to be found in heaven? Are our
hearts more weaned from the sensual satisfactions and
intemperate delights of the animal life ! Are we dead to
the temptations of gold and silver, the grandeurs and the
gaieties, and splendors of this present low life of flesh
and blood, which are no part nor portion of the heavenly
felicity? Do we view the tempting things of this world
with an holy indifference, and possess and use them with
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. ^4,9
aff'ections so calm and so cool, as becomes a rank of be-
ings that have a nobler, a richer, and a more exalted
hope ? Have we found the labors and burdens, the sor-
rows and aflftictions of the present state, happy instru-
ments to prepare us for the blessedness above, by curing
all our vain and carnal desires ? Are we in any measure
imitators of those who have gone before us through faith
and j^atience, and are made possessors of the promised
joy? Are we followers of God as dear children f Have
we the image of our heavenly Father created anew in us^
and do we walk as our Lord Jesus Christ also walked,
while he was in this wilderness travelling to his Father's
house ? Are our earnest desires towards tliis sort of feli-
city excit'Ml and raised high ? Have we a strong tendency
of soul to the holy enjoyments of the upper world ? Do
we sigh and grcan after a complete freedom fi'om sin^
and a delivei'ance from every temptation ? Do we em-
ploy oiu'selves with pleasure in tlie work and business of
heaven, in the holy contemplation of God, in a delightful
survey of the person and offices of liis Son Jesus, his
wondrous condescension, and his amazing compassion ?
Do we take pleasure in conversing with God our Father
by holy addresses of praise and thankfulness ? Do we
love all the saints, and delight in their society, and do
we rejoice to spend our time with them in heavenly con-
versation, though they may be amongst the lower ranks
of life here on earth? And do we diffuse our love through
all who wear the image of God, and take a pleasing
satisfaction of soul in their increase in holiness, and
rejoice in their joys ?
If God has thus fitted tliee, O christian, in this man-
ner for the mansions of the happy world, then surely he
has set thee apart for himself, he has begun eternal life,
in thee, the dawn of eternal glory is risen upon thee, and
he will bring thee into the complete noon of blessedness,
into the overflowing light of divine beatitudes. Arise
g50 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
and sliinc O christian, for thy life is come, the glory of
the Lord is risen upon thee ; thou liast no need to as-
cend into heaven to search for thy evidencies among the
decrees of God, and to pry into the rolls of electing
grace ; for if thou hast been transformed into an lieavenly
temper, tliy name is surely written in the Lamb's book
of life ; heaven is begun within thee, and God will
fulfil his own work.
Remark 2. What a solid comfort is it to poor mourn-
ing,troubled^ afflicted souls under all their sorrows, their
fr'ailties, their temptations^ and infirmities here on earth,
that they have a clear evidence of heaven within them.
This is such a peace as Jesus Clirist left to his disciples
by legacy; John xiv. 37- Such as the world cannot give,
and such as the world cannot take away.
This is a spring of constant and divine consolation to
those who seem to be worn out with old age or infirmi-
ties of nature, and they complain they are fit for no
service in this world ; but if they can feel in themselves
this holy fitness for the enjoyments of heaven, they have
a rich and living fountain of pleasure in their own breasts,
ever springing, ever flowing, and such as will follow
them with daily supplies of pleasure, if they are not
wanting to themselves, through all this wilderness, till
they arrive at that land where all the rivers of blessing
meet and join in a full stream, to make the inhabitants
for ever happy.
It may be, O christian, thou art afraid that thou liast
felt but little of this divine preparation ; thou seest so
many defects in thyself daily, so mnch unlikeness to
God, so much w orking of iniquity, such restless efforts
of the body of sin, so much prevalence of temptation, so
much coldness in duty, such deadness in acts of devotion,
such frequent returns of guilt and pain in a tender con-
science, and so many enemies to struggle with every
step of thy way to heaven^ tliat thou art greatly discoura-
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. 251
ged and afraid this divine preparation is not wrought ia
thee. Enquire then yet further, are all these melancholy
scenes both within and without, the matter of thy sincere
grief and burden ? Canst thou say in this tabernacle, I
groan, being burdened with the body of sin, as well as
with the frailties and pains of nature ? Canst thou say
sincerely, that thy inmost desires are towards God and
his glory in the present life, and towards his enjoyment
in the life to come ? Dost thou maintain a constant con-
verse with heaven as well as thou canst, though it be so
much broken, and so often painfully interrupted ? Hast
thou a continual and settled aversion and hatred to sin
and a holy jealousy and fear of its defilements ? Hast
thou a restless breathing of soul after greater likeness
to God, and greater communion with him ? Dost thou
delight in spiritual and holy conversation ; and does
thy zeal for the honor of God and his Son Jesus, carry
thee forth to those actions which are suitable to thy
station, for the advancement of religion in the world ?
Be assured then that God is training thee up for this
heavenly state, and has in some measure prepared thee
for it. God has begun in thee the business and blessed-
ness of the upper world. In the midst of all thy sorrows
and complaints here below, peace be with thee, and joy
in the Lord, for thy salvation and thy felicity shall be
completed.
Remark 3. How vain, and idle, and unreasonable are
all the hopes of sinners, that they shall ever arrive at
heaven without any preparation for it here P There is
nothing divine and holy begun in them in this world,
and yet they hope to be made happy in the world that
is to come ; there is nothing of true grace in their hearts
here, and yet they vainly expect to be made perfect in
pleasure and glory hereafter.
Think with thyself, O carnal creature, that heaven
will be a burden to thee ; the powers^ the appetites, and
252 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
passions of thy sinful nature, will not suffer thee to
relish the joys of the heavenly state. Dost thou ima-
gine that a worm or serpent of the earth, or a swine
which is ever tumbling in the mire, can be entertained
with the golden ornaments and splendors of a palace ?
Or will the stupid ass be delighted with the harmony of
a harp or viol ? No more can a soul of a carnal and
sensual taste, and which is ever seeking and grovelling
after earthly gratifications, be pleased or gratified with
the refined enjoyments of the heavenly world. Thou
must have a new nature, new appetites and new affections,
ere thou canst partake of divine joys, or relish them if
thou wert placed in the midst of them. Holy adoration
of God, and humble converse with him in worship, con-
verse with the saints about divine things, perfect purity
and devotion, with the meditation of the excellencies of
Christ, and the sight of him in his ordinances, have
never yet been the object of thy delight or joy ; nay,
they have rather been thine aversion ; and shouldst thou
have the gates of heaven open before thee, and see what
business the holy souls there are employed in, thou
wouldst find no desire to such sort of satisfactions ; the
place and the company would be thy burden, if thou
couldst be let at once into the midst of them.
Think again, O sinful wretch, thy carnality of soul,
thy supreme love of sensual and brutal joys, the secret
malice or envy, the pride and impiety of thy heart,
have prepared thee for another sort of company ; thou
art fitted for hell by the very temper of thy spirit, for
such are the inhabitants of that miserable world, and
in thy present state there can be no admission for thee
into heaven. Thou hast treasured up food for the worm
that never dies, for the eternal anguish of conscience ;
thou hast made thyself fit fuel by indulgence of thy
sinful and rebellious appetites and passions, for the fiery
indignation of God ; and every day tliou persisteth in
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. ^53
ihis state, thy preparation for the dark regions of sin
and sorrow is increased. But this leads me to the last
remark.
Remark 4. How dangerous a thing it is for a sinner
to continue a day longer in a state so unprepared for the
heavenly world. Dost thou not know, whilst we are in-
habitants in these regions of mortality, we are borderers
upon death ; and if we are unprepared for heaven, we
are borderers upon damnation and hell ? Our life is but
a vapor, and the next puff may blow us away into the
regions of everlasting darkness, misery and despair.
Alas ! How much of this divine preparation do the
best of saints stand in need of for an immediate entrance
into heaven ? What care do they take, how constant
are their labors, and how fervent their prayers to in-
crease in this divine fitness, in these holy and heavenly
qualifications? And dost thou vainly imagine to exchange
earth for heaven at once, and to be received into the
pure and holy mansions of paradise, "without any con-
formity to God or Christ, or the rest of the inhabitants
of that world ?
Objection. But some idle and slothful creatures will
be ready to object and say, if it be God who creates his
people anew, according to his own image, and fits them
for heaven ; if we must be wrought up by his power
and grace for the participation of his glory, what can
we do towards it ourselves ? Or why are we charged
and exhorted to prepare ourselves for heaven ? Since
then it is God must do this work, why may we not lie
still, and wait till his grace shall prepare us ?
I answer, no, by no means ; for God is wont to exert
his grace only while creatures are in the use of his ap-
pointments, and fulfil their duty. This language there-
fore, and these excuses, seem to be the mere cavils of a
carnal mind, or the voice of sloth and indolence. Those
who have no inclination to prepare themselves for the
S54 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
joys of tlie heavenly state, may wait and expect divine
influences in vain, if tiiey will never stir up themselves
to practise what is in their own power, and to attempt
what the gospel of grace demands.
In almost all the transactions of God with men, it is
^e way of his wisdom to join our diligence and his grace
together ; and there are many scriptures that give us
sufHcient notice of this. See how St. Paul argues with
the Philippians, and stirs them up to zeal and activity in
securkig their own salvation by the hope of divine as-
sistances ; Phil. ii. 13. 13 ; Tfork out your own salva-
tion, for it is God that worketh in you both to ivill and to
do. So said David to his son Solomon, when he ap-
pointed him to build the temple of the Lord ; 1 Chron.
xxviii. 20 ; Be strong and ofs!;ood courage, and doit, —
for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee, and
icill not fail thee, nor forsake thee, till thou hast finished
all the work. This was the charge also that God gave
to his people Israel, Lev. xx. 7? 8. Sanctify yourselves
and be ye holy, keep my statutes; lam the Lord who
sanctifieth you. So the Psalmist tells ns ; Psalm iv. 3.
The Lord hath set apart, or separated him ivho is godly
for himself ; and yet, 2 Cor. vi. 17? The Lord com-
mands his people to separate themselves unto him, to
come out from amongst the sinners of tliis world ; and
be you separate, saith the Lord, and I icill receive you.
So in other places of scripture, divine wisdom commands
sinners to fulfil their duty ; Prov. i. 23. Turn ye at my
reproof And yet in the 80th Psalm, the church prays,
turn us 0 Lord, and we shall be saved. The case is
very much the same even in the things that relate to this
life, wherein divine assistance and blessing are connect-
ed with our diligence in duty. Solomon tells us ; Prov.
X. 4 ; Tlie hand of the diligent maketh rich ; and yet,
verse 22, It is the blessing of the Lord that maketh
rich also. We can never expect tlie favors. of heaven,
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN, S55
unless we are zealous to obey the commands of heaven.
When the sinful children of men are found waiting
on God in his own appointed ordinances, then they are
in the fairest way to receive divine communications, and
be transformed into saints. If the blind man had not
obeyed the voice of Christ, John ix. 7? and washed him-
self in the pool of Siloam, he could not expect to have
received his eye-sight. If the man with the withered
hand ; Matthew xii. 10, 13, had not used his own en-
deavors to stretch forth his hand at the command of
Christ, I can hardly believe it would liave been re-
stored to its ancient vigor and usefulness. If the poor
impotent creature had not been waiting at the side of
the pool in Bethesda ; John v. he had not met with the
blessed Jesus, nor been healed by his miraculous power.
You will say, perhaps, that our blessed Saviour could
have visited him in his own house, could have directed
his journey towards his habitation, or have sent for him
into the public, and hea.led him there. No, our Lord
did not chuse either of these wa^'S ; but while the man
was waiting at the pool, where he had encouragement
to hope for a cure, there the Lord found him, and heal-
ed him.
Let not any presuming sinner therefore, who is sensi-
ble of his own unfitness for heaven, dare to continue in a
careless indifference about so important a concern. Let
him not put off his own conscience with this foolish
excuse. It is God must do all in us and for us, and there-
fore I will do nothing myself. Dost thou think, O soul,
that this will be a suiBcient answer to him that shall
judge thee in the great and solemn day ? May you not
expect to hear the Judge reply terribly to such an excuse,
"^ You never sought after this preparation for heaven,
and you must be plunged into hell, for which your own
rebellion and slothfulness hath prepared you."
But perhaps you will object a^ain, what can so feeble,
356 A SOUL PRBPAUED FOR HEAVEN
SO sinful a creature as I am, do towards this divine
work ?
I answer. Canst thou not separate one quarter of an
hour dailv, to think of thy dreadful circumstances, and
thine eternal danger, in a sinful and defiled state of soul ?
Think of the uncertainty of life, and how sudden thy
summons may be into the eternal and unchangeable
state. Survey thyself in thy sinful condition both of
heart and life, and see how unfit thou art for the com-
pany of all the holy ones above. Meditate on tliese thy
perilous circumstances, till thy heart be deeply affected
therewith ; fall down before God in humble acknowl-
edgment of thy former guilt and pollutions. Give up
thyself to him with holy solemnity, to have thy heart
turned away from every sin, and strongly inclined to ho-
liness and heaven. Commit thy soul, guilty and defiled
as it is, into the hands of Jesus the Mediator ; entrust
thy case with him as an ail-sufficient Saviour ; entreat
that he would cleanse thee from all tliy guilt and pollu-
tion, by the blood of his sacrifice, and the grace of his
Spirit ; that blood of atonement which has procured for
vsinners pardon and peace with God, and those opera-
tions of his grace which may sanctify thy sinful nature.
Address thyself to the exalted Saviour, for healing in-
fluences from his hand, to cure all the maladies of thy
soul, to form thee after his image, and to make thee a
son of God. Pray with holy importunity for this neces-
sary and divine Idessing ; wait on God in secret and
in public ; give him no rest night nor day, till he has re-
newed thy soul, and transformed thee into a new crea-
ture, and given thee a relish of the heavenly enjoyments.
Dwell at the throne of grace till thou feelest thy heart
drawn upward and heavenward ; and watch against
every thing that would defile thy soul anew, or make
thee unfit to enter into the company of the blessed.
Permit me here to dwell a little upon those motives
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. ^5*^
that should awaken thee to bethink thyself ere it he too
late, before the grave has shut its mouth upon thee, and
thou art consigned to the place of eternal misery.
Awake, awake, O impenitent sinners, who are as yet
unprepared for the business and blessedness of the
heavenly state ; awake, and exert your souls in warmest
reflections on matters of infinite importance.
1. Think with yourselves how much the great God
has done towards the preparation of sinful men for this
heaven ; think seriously of his long suffering goodness,
and his sparing mercy, which should have led you long
ago to a melting sense of your own folly, and brought
you back unto him by humble repentance. For what
reason were his patience and his long suffering exercised
towards you, if not for this very purpose ? Rom. ii. 4.
Think of the blessings of nature with which he has sur-
rounded you, and the comforts of this life wherewith he
has furnished you, in order to allure your thoughts
towards him, who is the spring of all goodness, and to
raise your desires towards him. It is he invites you,
who will be the everlasting portion and happiness of his
people, and in whose favor consists life and felicity;
and dare not any longer neglect your preparation f.*r this
happiness, which consists in the enjoyment of God, lest
you should be cut off before you are prepared.
2. Consider again what Jesus the Son of God has
done and suffered, and consider what he is yet doing
towards the preparation of souls for heaven. He came
down to our world to undertake the glorious and dread-
ful work of the redemption of sinners from the curse of
the law and the terrors of hell, and to procure a heaven
for every rebellious creature that would return to God
his Father. Think of the agonies of his death with
which he purchased mansions of glory for those that re-
ceive his grace in his own appointed methods, those that
are willing to have their hearts and minds formed into a
33
S58 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
suitable frame to receive this felicity. Remember that
he is risen from the tleail, he is ascended to prepare a
place in glory for those that are willing to follow him
through the paths of holiness. Hearken to the many
kind invitations and allurements of his gospel, which
calls to the worst of sinners to return and live, and en-
treats and exhorts those who are in the ends of the earth,
and upon the borders of hell, to look unto him that they
may be saved ; Isai. xlv. 22. Take heed that you suf-
fer not these seasons of his inviting love to slide away
and vanish unimproved ; take heed how you rebel
against the language of the grace of his gospel, and
thereby prepare yourselves for double and everlasting
destruction.
3. Think again, what blessed assistances he has pro-
posed to those who are desirous to be trained up for
heaven ; how many thousand souls, as carnal, as sensual,
and as criminal as yours are, have been recovered by the
word of his gospel, and the iniiuences of his Spirit, to a
new nature and life of holiness? How many are there
w ho, from children of wrath, have become the sons and
daughters of the most high God, heirs of this blessed-
ness, and prepared for the enjoyment of it? O take
lieed that you resist not this grace, nor rebel against the
kind and sacred motions of the blessed Spirit w ithin you,
when his very office and business is to change your sin-
ful natures, and to prepare you for the regions of eternal
holiness and |>eace.
4. Think yet further what advantages you have had
from tlie weekly ministrations of the word of grace, from
reading the book of God in your own language, and
from the pious education many of you have enjoyetl in
the families from whence you sprung. Think what
awakening hints you have received by the inward con-
Aiction of your own consciences, and by the christian
friends you may have conversed with. Have you not
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. 25Q
been told plainly enough by the voice of conscience, that
you ave now utterly unprepared for heaven ? Have not
public and private admonitions given you sufficient warn-
ing of the danger of your present state ? And after all
this will you proceed in your own sinful course, till you
arrive at the veiy gates of hell and destruction, till you
have prepared yourselves, and made your souls ripe for
the vengeance of God, and are plunged into it by death,
without remedy or relief?
5. Consider how dreadful will your state be if death
meet you in all your guilt and defilements, unwashed,
unpardoned, and unsanctified, without any garment of
rigliteousness, without any robe of salvation. What a
terrible sentence is that whicli death will pronounce upon
every such sinner, the moment that he strikes their heart ?
Hear it and tremble, O miserable creature, hear the for-
midable and eternal sentence, Let him that is unholy be
unholy still : let him that is unprepared for heaven go
down to tlie regions of death and hell, for which his
iniquities have best prepared him.
6. Think with yourselves, if you have any thing of
importance to do in this world, or have any momentous
scene of life to pass through, how diligent are you in
preparation for it. If you are but to visit the court of a
prince, or to go to make your addresses to any great man
of honor and power, or to be admitted into any numer-
ous society of a superior character, how diligently do you
endeavor to furnish yourselves with such knowledge of
the common ceremonies of life, and such ornaments about
your body as may render you acceptable amongst those
whom you are going to converse with. And does not
an entrance into the court of heaven, into the presence of
a God of holiness, and into the society of pure and blessed
spirits, require some solicitude and care about those or-
naments and qualifications which are necessary for so
solemn and glorious an appearance ? If you are design-
1360 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
ing in this life to commence any tirade or business for
your support, you are willing to serve an apprenticeship
of seven years, in order to a preparation for the exercise
of this public business ; and can you not afford one day
in a week to learn the business of heaven, and to prepare
for the blessedness of it ?
And let parents also consider with themselves what
pains they have taken that their children may be fit for
the trades and employments of life to wliich they design
them, and then let each enquire of their own consciences,
have I ever done so much to train up my son for the
heavenly world, to fit him for the appearance before
God, and saints, and angels, and for all the unknown
services of that celestial country ?
7- Cro on yet further, O impenitent sinners, and con-
sider with yourselves, what a blessedness it is to be
prepared for heaven ; for then you are prepared for
death ; and at once you take away all the terrors of it.
O what an unspeakable happiness is it to pass through
this world daily, without fear of dying ; what is it that
makes life so bitter to multitudes of souls, and every
malady or accident so frightful to them, but the perpet-
ual terrors of death ? Think what a divine satisfaction
it is to walk up and down in this desert land, ready pre-
pared for an entrance into the land of promise, the inher-
itance of the saints in light. Think of the solid joy and
inward consolation of those souls who feel in themselves
an habitual readiness for a departure hence, and who are
wrought up by divine grace to a preparation for the
business and the joys above. Think of the victory over-
death, which is obtained by such a readiness for heaven,
and how glorious a thing is it to meet the last enemy and
the king of terrors, and encounter him without fear, and
to triumph over him with divine language, O deaths
where is thy sting P How joyful a scene would it be to
(:ake leave of all our friends in this land of mortality^
A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. g6l
with an assured hope that we are entering into a happier
climate, and a better country, ready prepared for all the
more glorious scenes that shall meet us in the invisible
world ?
It is an amazing thing to me, how the children of men,
who are dying daily oft* from this stage of life, who must
all shortly die, and enter into a world of eternal futurity,
should be no more concerned about a preparation for
their departure hence ; that they should be so stupidly
thoughtless of a world to come, while they are on the
very borders of it, and eternal joy or eternal sorro^^
depends upon this one question, am I prepared for heaven
or not ? O these two awful regions of the unseen world,
where the love of God shines with its briglites^ glories,
or where the vengeance of God is discovered in all its
anguish and horror ! One of these will be the certain
and eternal dwelling place of the souls that are prepared
for them ; and there they must pass their long immor-
tality, either in joy or in sorrow, without a change ; and
yet the foolish and besotted tribes of mankind seem to
have abandoned all thought and concern about them.
A dangerous lethargy or distraction !
What shall we do to cure sinners of this madness ?
Shall I try to rouse these indolent unthinking wretches
out of their dangerous and mortal slumbers with tlie
loudest voice of thunder and divine terror ? But the
lethargy of sin is proof against all these terrors and
thunders. Shall I call for a fountain of tears into my
eyes, and weep over them with the tenderest sympathy
and compassion ? But they feel not any meltings of pity
for themselves, nor are their hearts to be softened by all
our tears and wailings. Sliall I beseech them in the
name of Christ, by the bowels of his dying love, and the
blood and anguish of his sufferings for our salvation ?
But even these divine and astonishing instances of ten-
derness and mercy, make no iippression on their souls.
262 A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN.
While Satan holds them in his chains, they are sleeping
the sleep of death. O for a word of sovereign and
almighty Grace to reach the centre of their spirits ! to
shake all the powers of their nature ! to awaken them to
behold tlieir eternal interest ! and to prepare for heavenly
felicity ! Awake, O sleepers, ere the angel of death
seize you, and the grave shuts its ftiouth upon you ; then
all your seasons and hopes of mercy are cut off for ever,
and you will awake hopeless immortals.
I shall conclude this discourse with one laord of ex-
hortation to those who are in any measure wrought up to
a preparation for the heavenly blessedness. O happy
creature ! Whatsoever pains you have taken, whatever
conflicts you have endured in the matter of your oAvn
salvation, yet let God and his grace have all the honor
of this work. It is to God you owe your sacrifices of
praise. He that hath wrought you up for this felicity is
God. It was he who aw akened you first, and set you a
thinking of your most important concerns. It was he
that led you first into tlie way of salvation by Jesus
Christ his Son, and hat!) thus far crowned your labors
and prayers with success and blessing. Every stum-
bling-block in your way might have thrown you down
to perdition : every temptation might have turned you
back from tliis glorious pursuit : every enemy of your
souls might have discouraged or overcome you, if God
and his grace had not been engaged on your side.
It is he hath upheld you when you were falling ; he
hath taken you by the hand and led you right onward
when you were wandering, and he hatli supported you
by his divine cordials of promise wlien you weVe fainting.
It is God who hath enabled you to maintain your con-
flict with all the mighty obstacles of your faith and hope :
it is his grace hatii renewed your nature, hath weaned
you from this vain flattering world, and given you a
sacred relish of divine blessedness. It is he wJio hath
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 2bS
formed you again after his own image, and hath trained
you up, and made you meet for the inheritance of the
saints in liglit. Call up all your powers to praise his
goodnessj and say, ^^ Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and all
that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord
for ever, and fi)rget not all his benefits. It is God who
hath called me out of darkness into his marvellous light,
and given me to see the things that belong to my ever-
lasting peace. It is God who washed away my iniquities
in the blood of his own Son, and hath renewed me unto
holiness by his blessed Spirit. It is God who hath
taken me out of the family of sin and Satan, and given
me a place among his children ; who hath begun to pre-
pare me for the joys and blessings of heaven ; and in his
own time he will fulfil my hopes, and complete my
felicity.'' Walk before him with holy care and watch-
fulness, and take heed that you lose not the things ichich
you have wrought, nor the things wliich God hath
wrought in you, but that, persevering to tlie end, you
may receive the full reivard, and obtain the crown of
everlasting; life. Amen.
DISCOURSE IX.
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
REV. xxi. 4.
JVeither shall there he any more pain.
THERE have been some divines in ancient times,
as well as in our present age, who suppose this prophecy
reUtes to some glorious and happy event here on earth.
264)
^O PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
wherein the saints and faithful followers of Christ shall
be delivered from the bondage and miseries to which
they have been exposed in all former ages, and shall
fenjoy the blessings which these words promise. Among
these writers some liave placed this happy state before
the resurrection of the body. Others make it to belong
to ihfit first resurrection which is spoken of in Rev. xx. 6.
But let this prophecy have a pai'ticular aspect upon what
earthly period soever, yet all must grant it is certainly
true concerning the heavenly state ; from whose felicities,
taken in the literal sense, these figurative expressions
are derived to foretel the happiness of any period of the
church in tliis world ; and in this sense, as part of our
happiness in heaven, I shall understand the words here,
and propose them as the foundation for my present dis-
course.
Among the many things that make this life uncomfort-
able, and render mankind unhappy here below, this is
one that has a large influence, viz. that in this mortal
state we are all liable to pain, from which we shall be
perfectly delivered in the life to come. The Greek word
which is here translated pain, signifies also toil and fa-
tigue, and excessive labor of the body, as well as anguish
and vexation of the spirit. But since in the two other
places of the New Testament where it is used, the word
most properly signifies the pain of the body, I presume
to understand it chiefly in this sense also in my text.
T need not spend time in explauiing what pain is to
persons who dwell in flesh and blood. There is not one
of you in this assembly but is better acquainted with the
nature of it by the sense of feeling, than it is possible
for the wisest philosopher to inform you by all his learned
language. Yet that I may proceed regularly, I would
just give you this short description of it. Pain is an
uneasy perception of the soul, occasioned by some indis-
position of the body to which it is united ; whether this
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 365
arise from some disorder or malady in the flesh itself, or
from some injury received from without by wounds^
hruises, or any thing of the like kind. Now this sort of
uneasy sensations is not to be found or feared in heaven.
In order to make our present meditations on this part
of the blessedness of heaven useful and joyful to us while
we are here on earth, let us inquire,
- 1. What are the evils or grand inconveniences that
generally flow from the pains we suffer here ; and as we
go we shall survey the satisfactions which arise by our
freedom from them all in heaven.
II. What just and convincing proofs may be given that
there are no such uneasy sensations to be felt in heaven^,
or to be feared after this life.
III. What are the chief reasons or designs of the
blessed God in sending pain on his creatures in this
world ; and at the same time I shall shew that pain is
banished from the heavenly state, because God has no
such designs remaining to be accomplished in that world.
IV. What lessons we may learn from the painful
discipline wiiich we feel while we are here, in order to
shevv' there is no need of such discipline to teach us those
lessons in heaven, let us address ourselves to make these
four inquiries in their order.
SECTION I.
First. What are the evils which flow from fahiy and,
usually attend it in this life / and all along as we go we
shall take a short view of the heavenly state, where we
shall be released from all these evils and inconveniences.
1. Pain has a natural tendency to make the mind sor-
rowful as well as the body uneasy. Our souls are so
nearly united to flesh and blood, that it is not possible
for the mind to possess perfect happiness and ease, while
the body is exposed to so many occasions of pain. It
34!
:^66 >JO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
is granted, that natural courage and strength of heart
may prevail in some persons to bear up their spirits
under long and intense pains of the flesh, yet they really
take away so much of the ease and pleasure of life,
while any of us lie under the acute sensations of them.
Pain will make us confess that we are flesh and hlood,
and force us sometimes to cry out and groan. Even a
stoicJe in spite of all the pride of liis philosophy, will
sometimes be forced, by a sigh or groan to confess him-
self a man. What are the greatest part of the groans
and outcries that are heard all round this our globe of
earth, but the effects of pain, either felt or feared ?
But in heaven, where there is no pain, there shall be
no sighing or groaning, nor any more crying, as my
text expresses. There shall be nothing to make the
flesh or the spirit uneasy, and to break the eternal thread
of peace and pleasure that runs through tlie whole du-
ration of the saints. Not one painful moment to inter-
rupt the everlasting felicity of that state. When we
have done with earth and mortality, we have done also
with sickness and anguish of nature, and M'ith all sor-
row and vexation for ever. There are no groans in the
heavenly world to break in upon the harmony of the
harps and the songs of the blessed ; no sighs, no out-
cries, no anguish there to disturb the music and the joy
of the inhabitants. And though the soul shall be united
to the body new raised from the dead, to dwell for ever
in union, yet that new raised body shall have neither
any springs of pain in it, nor be capable of giving an-
guish or uneasiness to the indwelling spirit for ever.
2. Another evil which attends on pain is this, that if
so indisposes our nature as often to unfit us for the busi-
ness and duties of the present state. With how mucii
coldness and indifferency do we go about our daily work,
and perform it too with many interruptions, when nature
i& burdened with continual pain, and the vital springs of
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. ^67
action are overborne with perpetual uneasiness ? What
a listnessness do we find to many of the duties of religion
at such a season, unless it be to run more frequently to
the throne of Grod, and pour out our groanings and our
complaints there ? Groanings and cries are the language
of jiature, and the children of God address themselves
in this language to their heavenly Father. Blessed be
the name of our gracious God, who hears every secret
sigh, who is acquainted with the sense of every groan^
while we mourn before him, and make our complaints to
liim, that we cannot worsliip liim, nor work for him as
we would do, because of the anguish and maladies of
nature.
And what an indisposition and backwardness do we
feel in ourselves to fulftl many of the duties towards
our fellow creatures v ile we ourselves are under pre-
sent smart and anguisn? Pain will so sensibly affect
.sp(f as to draw off all our thoughts thither, and centre
them there, that we cannot so much employ our cares
and our active powers for the benefit of our neighbors ;
it abates our concern for our friends, and while it awa-
kens the spirit within us into keen sensations, it takes
away the activity of the man that feels it from almost all
the services of human life. When human nature bears
so much it can act but little.
But what a blessed state will tliat be when we shall
never feel this indisposition to duties, either human or
divine, through any uneasinsss of the body ? When we
shall never more be subject to any of these painful im-
pediments, but for ever cast off all those clogs and bur-
dens which fetter the active powers of the soul ? Then
we shall be joyfully employed in such unknown and
glorious services to God our Father, and to the blessed
Jesus, as require much superior capacities to what we
here possess, and shall find no weakness, no weariness,
no pain throughout all the years of our immortality ^
268
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSTiD.
Rev. vii. 15. None of the blessed above are at rest or
idle, either day or night, but they serve him in liis temple,
and never cease, and iv. 8. No faintness, no langors
are known there. The inhabitants of that land shall
not say, lam sick. Everlasting vigor, cheerfulness and
ease shall render every blessed soul for ever zealous and
active in obedience, as the angels are in heaven.
3. Pain unfits us for the enjoT/ments of life, as ivell
as for the labors and duties of it. It takes away all the
pleasing satisfactions which might attend our circum-
stances, and renders the objects of tliera insipid and
unrelishing. What pleasure can a rich man take in
all the aiftuence of eai'thly blessiiigs around him, while
some painful distemper holds him upon the rack, and
distresses him with tlie torture? How little delight can
he find in meats or in drinks which are prepared for
luxury when sharp pain calls all his attention to the
diseased part? What joy can he find in magnificent
buildings, in gay and shining furniture, in elegant
gardens, or in all the glittering treasures of the Indies,
when tlse gcuit torments his hands and his feet, or the
rheumatism atHicts his limbs with intense anguish? If
pain attacks any part of the body and rises to a high
degree, the luxuries of life grow tasteless, and life itself
is imbittered to us. Or when pains less acute are pro-
longed through weeks and months, and perhaps stick in
our flesh all the night as well as in the day ; how vain
and feeble are all the efforts of the bright and gay things
around us to raise the soul ioto cheerfulness ? There-
fore Solomon calls old age the years wherein there is no
pleasure ; Eccles. xii. 1. Because so many aches and
ails in that season pursue us in a continual succession ;
so many infirnrities and painful hours attend us usually
in that stage of life, even in the be stsituation that mor-
tality can boast of, as cuts off and destroys all our pleas-
ures.
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 2&Q
But O what a wondroiis, what a joyful change shall
that be, when the soul is commanded to forsake this
flesh and blood, when it rises as on the winejs of angels
to the heavenly world, and leaves every pain behind it,
together with the body in the arms of death ? And what
a more illustrious and delightful change shall we meet
in the great rising day, when our bodies shall start up
out of the dust with vigorous immortality, and without
any spring or seat of pain ? All the unknow n enjoy-
ments with whicli heaven is furnished, shall be taken
in by the enlarged powers of tlie soul with intense
pleasure, and not a moment's pain shall ever interrupt
them.
4. Another inconvenience and evil which belongs to
pain is, that it snakes time and life itself appear tedious
and tiresome,, and adds a neiv burden to all other griev-
ances. Many evidencies of tliis truth are scattered
throughout all nature, and on all sides of this globe.
There is not one age of mankind but can furnish us with
millions of instances. In what melancholy language
does Job dii^cover his sensations of the tiresome nature
of pain ? " I am made to possess months of vanity, and
wearisome nights are appointed to me. When I lie
down I say, when shall I rise and the night be gone ?
And I am full of tossing to and fro unto the dawning
of the day ;" Job vii. 3. When pain takes hold of our
flesh, it seems to stretch the measures of time to a te-
dious length ; we cry out as Moses expresses it ; Deut.
xxviii. 67. In the morning we say^ would to God it were
evehing ; and at the return of evening ice say again,
would to God it were morning.
Long are those hours indeed, whether of day-light or
darkness, wherein there is no relief or intermission of
acute pain. How tiresome a thing is it to count the
clock at midnight in long successions, and to wait every
hour for the distant approach of morning, while our
370 NO. PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED,
eyes are unable to close themselves in slumber, and our
anguish admits not the common refuge of sleep. There
are multitudes among tlie race of mortals who have
known these truths by sore experience. Blessed be
God that we do not always feel them.
But when we turn our thoughts to tlie heavenly world
where there is no pain, there we shall find no weary
hours, no tedious days, though eternity with all its un-
ineasurable lengtlis of duration lies before us. What a
dismal thought is eternal pain? The very mention of it
makes nature shudder and stand aghast ; but futurity
with all its endless years, in a land of peace and pleas-
ure gives the soul the most deliglitful prospect, for there
is no shadow of uneasiness in that state to render our
abode there tiresome, or lo tliink the ages of it long.
5. Another evil tiiat belongs to pain is, that it ha^
an unhappy tendency tu riijjie the passions^ and to ren-
der us fretful and peevish icithin ourselves, as well as
towards those who are round about us. Even the kind-
est and tenderest hand that ministers to our relief, can
hardly secure itself from the peevish quarrels of a man
in extreme pain.
Not that we are to suppose that this peevisli humor,
this fretfulness of spirit are thereby made innocent and
perfectly excused : no, by no means ; but it must be
acknowledged still that continuance in pain is too ready
to work up the spirit into frequent disquietude and ea-
gerness. We are tempted to fret at every thing, we
quarrel with every thing, we grow impatient under every
delay, angry with our best friends, sharp and sudden
in our resentments, with wrathful speeches breaking
out of our I'tps.
This peevish humor in a day of pain is so common a
fault, that I fear it is too much excused and indulged.
Let me rather say with myself, '^ My God is now putting
me to the trial what sort of christian I am. and how
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. §71
much I have learnt of self-government, and througli his
grace I will subdue my uneasy passions, though I can-
not relieve my pain." O it is a noble point of honor
gained in a sick chamber, or on a bed of anguish, to lie
pressed with extreme pain, and yet maintain a serenity
and calmness of soul ; to be all meekness and gentleness
and patience, among our friends or attendants, under
the sharp twinges of it ; to utter no rude or angry lan-
guage, and to take every thing kindly that they say or
do, and become like a weaned child. But sucli a char-
acter is not fouud in every liouse.
A holy soul, through the severity of pain, may some-
times in such an hour be too much ruffled by violent and
sudden fits of impatience. This proceeded to such a
degree even in that good man. Job, under his various
calamities and the sore boils upon his ilesh, that made
him cui'se the day ivherein he teas born, and cry out in
the anguish of his spirit, my soul chooseth strangling
and death rather than life ; Job. iii. and vii. 15 ; and
there have been several instances of those, who, having
not the fear of God before their eyes, with hasty violence
and murderous hand have put an end to their own lives,
through their wild and sinful impatience of constant
pain.
But tliese trials are for ever finished when this life
expires. Then all our pains are ended for ever, if we
are found among the children of God. There is not,
nor can be any temptation in heav<^n, to fretfulness or
disquietude of mind. iVll the peevish passions are
dropped into the gi'ave, together with the body of fiesh ;
and those evil humors which were the sources of smart
and anguish here on earth, have no ])lace in the new
raised body. Those irregular juices of animal nature
which tormented the nerves, and excited pain in the flesh,
and which at the same time provoked choler, and irri-
tated the spirit, are never fouivd in the Iieavenly man-
S7S
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
sioiis. There is nothing but peace and pleasure, joy and
love, goodness and benevolence, ease and satisfaction,
diifiised through all the regions on high. There are no
inward springs of uneasiness to ruffle the mind, none of
those fretful ferments which were wont to kindle in the
mortal body, and explode themselves with fire and
thunder, upon every supposed offence, or even sometimes
without provocation. O happy state and blessed man-
sions of the saints, when this body of sin shall be- de-
troyed, and all the restless atoms that disquieted the
flesh and provoked the spirit to impatience, shall be
buried in the dust of death, and never, never rise again !
6. Pain carries a temjjtation with it, sometimes to
repine and murmur at the providence of God. Not feU
low-creatures alone, but even our sovereign Creator
comes within the reach of the peevish humors, which are
alarmed and roused by sharp or continual paia. Jonah
the prophet, when he felt the sultry heat of the sun smite
fiercely upon him, and the gourd which gave him a
friendly shadow was withered away, he told God him-
self in a passion, that he did well to be angry, even unto
death, Jonah iv. 9. And even the man of Uz, the pat-
tern of patience, was sometimes transported v.ith the
smart and maladies that were upon him, so that he
complained against God, as well as complained to
him, and used some very unbecoming expressions toward
his Maker. When we are under the smarting rebukes
of providence, we are ready to compare ourselves with
others who are in
peace,
and then the envious and
the murmuring humour breaks out into rebellious lan-
guage, *• Why am I thus afflicted more than others ?
Why hast thou set me as a mark for thine arrows ?
Why dost thou not let loose thy hand and cut me off
from the earth ?
But in heaven there is a glorious reverse of all such
unhappy scenes : there is no pain nor any temptation to
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. ^3
murmur at the dealiugs of tlie Almighty ; there is no-
thing that can incline us to think hardly of God ; the
days of chastisement are for ever end^d, and painful
discipline shall be used no more. We shall live for
ever in the embraces of the love of God, and he shall be
the object of our everlasting praise. Perfect felicity
without the interruption of one uneasy thought, for ever
forbids the inhabitants of that world to repine at their
situation under the eternal smiles of that blessed Being
that made them.
7. To add no more ; j;a?}« (uid av.gidsli of the flesh
have sometimes prevailed so far as to distract the mind
as well as destroy the body. It has overpowered all the
reasoning faculties of man, it has destroyed natural life,
and brought it down to the grave. The senses have
been confounded, and the understanding overwhelmed
with severe and racking pain, especially where there
hath been an impatient temper to contest with them.
Extreme smart of the flesh distresses feeble nature, and
turns the whole frame of it upside down in wild confu-
sion. It has actually worn out this animal fi-ame, and
stopped all the springs of vital motion. The gout and
the stone have brought death upon tlie patient in tl is
manner ! and a dreadful manner of dying it is, to have
breath, and life, and nature quite oppressed and destroyed
with intense and painful sensations.
Eut when we survey the mansions of the heavenly
world, we shall find none of these evils there. No dan-
ger of any such events as these ; for there is no pain,
no sorrow, no crying, no death nor desti'uction there.
The mind shall be for ever clear and serene in the ease
and happiness of the separate state : and when the body
shall be raised again, that glorified body, as was inti-
mated a little before, sliall have none of the seeds of
distemper in it, no ferments that can racli the nerves, or
create anguish ; no fever, or gout, or stone, was ever
30
274
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
known in that country ; no head- ache or heart- ache have
ascended thither.
That hody also shall ])e capable of no outward Mounds
nor bruises, for it is raised only for happiness, and leaves
all the causes of pain behind it. It is a body made for
immortality and pleasure ; there the sickly christian is
delivered from all the maladies of the flesh, and the
twinges of acute pain which made him groan here on
earth night and day. Tliere the martyrs of the religion of
Jesus, and all the holy confessors are free from their
cruel tormentors, those surly executioners of heatlien
fury, or antichristian Avrath ; they are for ever released
from racks, and wheels, and fires, and every engine of
torture and smart. Immortal ease and unfading health
and cheerfulness mn tlirough their eternal state, and all
the powers of the man are composed for the most regular
exercises of devotion and divine joy.
Thus I have endeptvoured ])rietiy to set the different
states of heaven and earth before you under this distin-
guishing character, that a^^ the tempting, the distresshi'j;
mid mischievous attendants and consequences of jjain to
which we are exposed in our mortal life, are for ever
banished from the heavenly world.
SECTION II.
The second general enquiry was this ; What just and
convincing arguments or jwoofs can he given, that there
are no pains or uneasy sensations to be felt by the saints
in a future state, nor to be feared after this life P
My answers to this question shall be very few ; be-
cause I think the thing must be sufficiently evident to
those who believe the New Testament, and liave lil)erty
to read it.
First Argument. God has assured us so in his ivord.
that tkere is no pain for holy souls to endure in the icorld
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 275
to come. My text may be esteemed a sufficient proof of
it ; for whatsoever particular event or period of the church
on earth this prophecy may refer to, yet the description
is borrowed from the blessedness of heaven ; and if therq
shall be any such state on earth, much more will it be
so in the heavenly world, wliereas that period on earth
is but a shadow and emblem. We are expressly told,
Rev. xiv. 8. in order to encourage the persecuted saints
and martyrs, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord
from henceforth, for they rest from their labors [^or pains']
and their works follow them ; that is, in the way of
gracious recompence.
It is granted indeed by the papists themselves, that in
heaven there is no pain ; yet they suppose there are
many and grievous pains for the soul to undergo in a
place called purgatory, after the death of tlie body, be-
fore it arrives at heaven.
But give me leave to ask, does not St. Paul express
himself with confidence concerning himself and his fellow
christians — that they shall be present with the Lord when
they are absent from the body; 3 Cor. v. 8? Surely the
state wherein Christ our Lord dwells after all his safi'er-
ings and agonies, is a state of everlasting ease without
suffering ; and shall not his followers dwell with him ?
Do we not read in the parable of our Saviour, Luke
xvi. 22, that Lazarus was no sooner dead, but his soul
was carried by angels into the bosom of Abraham, or
paradise ? Every holy soul wherein the work of grace is
begun, and sin hath received its mortal wound, is per-
fectly sanctified when it is released from this body ; and
it puts off the body of sin and the body of flesh together,
for nothing that defileth must enter into paradise or the
heavenly state.
The word of God has appointed but two states, viz.
heaven and hell, for the reception of all mankind Avhen
they depart from tliis world. And how vain a thing must
27^ NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
it be for men to invent a third state, and make a purga-
tory of it ? This is a building erected by the church of
Rome between heaven and hell, and prepared by their
wild imagination for souls of imperfect virtue, to be tor-
mented there with pains equal to those of hell, but of
shorter duration. This state of fiery purgation, and ex-
treme anguish, is devised by that mother of lies, partly
under a pretence of completing the penances and satis-
factions for the sins of men committed in this life, and
partly also to purify and refine their souls from all the
remaining dregs of sin, and to fill up their virtues to
perfection, that they may be fit for the immediate pre-
sence of God. But does not the scripture suflBciently
inform us, that the atonement or satisfaction of Christ for
sin is full and complete in itsetf, and needs none of our
additions in this world or another ? Does not the apostle
Jolin tell us, 1 Epis. i. 7 ; The blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth us from all sin f Nor shall the saints after this
life sin any more, to require any new atonement ; nor do
they carry the seeds of sin to heaven with them, but (h"op
them together with the flesh, and all the sources of pain
together. Now since neither Christ nor his apostles give
us any intimation of such a place as purgatory for the
refinement or purification of souls after this life, we have
no ground to hearken to such a fable.
The second Argument is this. God has not provided
any medium to convey pain to holy souls after they have
dropped this body of flesh. They are pardoned, they are
sanctified, they are accepted of God for ever ; and since
they are in no danger of sinning afresh by the influences
of corrupt flesh and blood, therefore they are in no fear
of suflTering any thing thereby. And if, as some divines
Lave supposed, there should be any pure sethereal bodies
or vehicles provided for holy separate spirits, when de-
parted from this grosser tabernacle of flesh and blood,
yet it cannot be supposed that the God of all grace
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 277
would mix up any seeds of pain with that sethereal mat-
ter, which is to be the occasional habitation of sanctified
spirits in that state, nor that he would make any avenues
or doors of entrance for pain into these refined vehicles,
when the state of their sinning and their trial is for ever
finished.
Nor will the body at the final resurrection of the saints
be made for a mediun of any painful sensations. All
the pains of nature are ended, when tlie first union be-
tween flesh and spirit is dissolved. When this body
lies down to sleep in the dust, it shall never awake again
with any of the principles of sin or pain in it. Though
it be sown in weakness^ it is raised in power ; though it
be sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory ; and we shall
be made like the Son of God, without sorrow and with-
out sin for ever.
3d Argument. There are no moral causes or reasons
why there should be any thing of pain provided for the
heavenly state. And if there be no moral reasons for it,
surely God will not provide pains for his creatures with-
out reason. But this thought leads me to the next gen-
eral head of my discourse.
SECTION III.
The third general inquiry which I proposed to make,
was this, ichat may be the chief moral reasons, motives, or
designs of the blessed God, in sending pain on his crea-
tures here below ; and at the same time I shall shew that
these designs and purposes of God are finished, and they
have no place in heaven.
I. Then pain is sometimes sent into our natures to
awaken slothful and drowsy christians out of their spir-
itual slumbers, or to rouse stupid sinners from a state of
spiritual death. Intense and sharp pain of the flesh has
278 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
oftentimes been tlie appointed and effectual means of
providence to attain tliese desirable ends.
Pain is like a rod in the hand of God, wherewith lie
smites sinners that are dead in their trespasses, and his
Spirit joins with it to awaken tliem into spiritual life.
This rod is sometimes so smarting and severe, that it
will make a senseless and ungodly wretch lookupwards
to the hand that smites it, and take notice of the rebuke
of heaven, though all the thundering and lightning of the
word; and all the terrors of hell denounced there, could
not awaken tliem.
Acute pain is also a common instrument in our heavenly
Fatlier's hand, to recover backsliding saints from their
secure and drowsy frames of spirit. David often found
it so, and speaks it plainly in the 38th and 39th Psalms.
And in Psalm cxix. 67, he confesses, before I was af-
flicted, I went astray ; but when he had felt the scourge.
he learnt to obey, and to keeq} the tcord of his God,
But tliere is 7W need of this discipline in heaven ; no
need of this smarting scourge to make dead sinners feel
their Makers hand, in order to rouse them into life, for
there are no suc!i inhabitants in tliat world. Nor is
tliere any need of such divine and paternal discipline of
God in those holy mansions, where tliere is no drowsy
christian to be awakened, no wandering spirit that wants
to be reduced to duty. Antl where the designs of such
smarting strokes have no place, pain itself must be for
ever banished ; for God does not ivillingly ajflict, nor
take delight in grieving the children of meii^ without
substantial reasons for it.
2. Another use of bodily pain and anguish in this
world is, to punish men for their faults and follies^ to
make them Tcnow what an evil and bitter thing it is to sin
against God, and thereby to guard them against new
temptations ; Jer. ii. 19. Thy oicn ivickedness shall
correct thee, and thy backsliding shall reprove thee ; that
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 379
isj by means of the smarting chastisements they bring
upon men. Wlien God makes the sinner taste of the
fruit of his own ways, he makes others also observe how
hateful a thing every sin is in the sight of God, which he
thinks fit so terribly to punish.
This is one general reason why special diseases, mal-
adies, and plagues are spread over a whole nation, viz.
to punish the sins of the inhabitants, when they hav6
provoked God by public and spreading iniquities. War
and famine, with all their terrible train of anguish and
agony, and the dying pains which they diffuse over a
kingdom, are rods of punishment in the hand of God,
the Governor of the world, to declare from heaven and
earth, his indignation against an ungodly and an unright-
eous age.
This indeed is one design of the pains and torments
of hell, where God inflicts pain without intermission.
And this is sometimes the purpose of God in his painful
providences here on earth. Sliall I rise yet higher and
say, that this was one great design in the eye of God,
wheji it jjleased the Father to bruise his best beloved
Son, and put him under the impressions of extreme pain,
viz. to discover to the world the abominable evil that
was in sin ? While Jesus stood in the stead of sinners,
then his soul was exceeding sorroicful, even unto deaths
and he siceat drops of blood under the pressure of his ag-
onies, to let the world see what the sin of man had de-
served. And sometimes God smites his own children
in this world with smarting strokes of correction, when
they have indulged any iniquity, to shew the world that
God hates sin in his own people, wheresoever he finds
it, and to bring his children back again to the paths of
righteousness.
But in theheavenly state, there are no faults to punish^
110 follies to chastise. Jesus, our Surety, in the days of
his flesh, has suffered those sorrows which made atone-
280
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
ment for sin, and that anguish of his holy soul, and the
blood of his cross, have satisfied the demands of God ;
so that with honor he can pardon ten thousand penitent
criminals, and provide an inheritance of ease and bless-
edness for tliem for ever. When once we are dismissed
from this body, the spirit is thoroughly sanctified, and
there is no fire of purgatory needful to burn out the re-
mains of sin. Those foolish invented flames are but
false fire, kindled by the priests of Rome to friglit the
souls of the dying, and to squeeze money out of them to
purchase so many vain and idle masses to relieve the
souls of the dead. Upon our actual release from this
flesh and blood, neither the guilt nor the power of sin,
shall attend the saints in their flight to heaven. All the
spirits that arrive there, are made perfect in holiness
without new scourges, and commence a state of felicity
that shall never be interrupted.
3. God has appointed pain in this world, to exercise
and try the virtues and the graces of his people. As
gold is thrown into the fire to prove and try how pure it
is from any coarse alloy, so the children of God are
sometimes left for a season in the furnace of sufferings,
partly to refine them from their dross, and partly to dis-
cover their purity, and tlieir substantial Aveight and
worth.
Sometimes God lays smarting pain with his own hand
on the flesh of his people, on purpose to try their graces.
When we endure the pain without murmuring at prov-
idence, then it is we come off conquerors. Christian
submission and silence under the hand of God, is one
way to victory. I was dumb, says David, and opened
mot my mouth, because thou didst it ; Psalm xxxix.
Our love to God, our resignation to his will, our holy
fortitude, and our patience, find a proper tiial in such
smarting seasons. Perhaps when some severe pain first
seizes and surprises us, we find ourselves like a wild hull
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 281
in a net, and all the powers of nature are thrown into
tumult and disquietude, so that we have no possession
of our own spirits ; but when the hand of Grod has con-
tinued us a while under this divine discipline, we learn
to bow down to his sovereignty, we lie at his footstool
calm and composed. He brings our haughty and reluc-
tant spirits down to his foot, and makes us lie humble in
the dust, and we wait with patience the hour of his re-
lease. Kom. V. 3, 4 ; Tribulation ivorketh jjatience,
mid patience under tribulation gives us experience of
the dealings of God with his people, and makes our way
to a confirmed hope in his love. The evidence of our
various graces grows brighter and stronger under a
smarting rod, till we are settled in a joyful confidence;^
and the soul rests in God himself.
Sometimes he has permitted evil angels to put the flesh
to pain, for the trial of his children. So Job urns smitten
tilth sore boils from head to foot by the malice of Satan ,
at the permission of God ; but he knoics the way that I
take, says this holy man, and when he has tried me I
shall come forth as gold; for my foot hath held his steps
through all tiiese trials, neither have 1 gone hack from
the commandments of his lips ; Job xxii. 10, 12.
At other times he suffers wicked men to spend their
own malice, and to inflict dreadful pains on his own
children. Look back to the years of ancient perse-
cution in the land of Israel, under Jewish or heathen
tyrants ; review the anuals of Great Britian ; look over
the seas into popish kingdoms ; take a view of the cursed
courts of inquisition in Spain, Portugal, and Italy ; be-
hold the weapons, the scourges, the racks, the machines
of torture and engines of cruelty, devised by the barba-
rous and inhuman wit of men, to constrain' the saints to
renounce their taith, and dishonor their Saviour. See
the slow fires where the martyrs have been roasted to
death with lingering torment. These are seasons of
m
S8a NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSEIC,
terribU' trial indeed, wliereby the malice of satan and
antichvist would force the servants of God and the follow-
ers of the Lamb, into sinful compliances with their
idolatry, or a desertion of their post of duty. But the
Spirit of God has supported his children to bear a glori-
ous testimony to pure and undefiled religion ; and they
have seemed to mock the rage of their tormentors, to
defy all the stings of pain, and triumphed over their
vain attempts, to compel them to sin against their God.
One would sometimes be ready to wonder, that a
God of infinite mercy and compassion should suffer his
own dear children to be tried in so terrible a manner as
this ; but unsearchable wisdom is with him, and he does
not give an account to men of all the reasons and the
rules of his conduct. This has been his method of
providence with his saints at especial seasons, under the
Jewish and the christian dispensations, and perhaps
under all the dispensations of God to men, from the
days of Cain and Abel to the present hour. Our bless-
ed Lord has given us many warnings of it in his word
by his own mouth, and by all his three apostles, Paul,
Peter and Jolm. They that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall sujfer j)erseciition. Think it not strange
therefore concerning the fiery trial. The devil, by his
\vicked agents shall cast some of yon into prison, that
ye may he tried ;" and ye shall have tribulation ten days,
but fear none of the things ivhich thou shall suffer.
Se thou faithful unto death, and I icill give thee a crown
of If^-
But blessed be God tliat this w orld is the only stage
of such trials. As soon as the state of probation is fin-
ished, the state of recompence begins. Such hard and
painful exercises to try the virtues of the saints, liave no
place in that world which was not made for a stage of
trial and conflict, but a palace of glorious reward.
Heaven is a place wliere crowns and prizes are distrib-
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 283
uted to all those blessed ones who have enduved temp-
tation, and who have been found faithful to the death.
These sharp and dreadful combats with pain, have no
place among conquerors, who have finished their war-
fare, and have begun their U'iuraph.
4. Pain is sent us by the hand of providence to teach
.us many a lesson both of truth and duty, ivhich perhaps
ive should never have learnt so well without it. This
sharp sensation awakens our best powers to attend to
those truths and duties which we took less notice of
before. In the time of perfect ease we are ready to let
them lie neglected or forgotten, till God our great Mas-
ter takes his rod in hand for our instruction.
SECTION IV,
And this leads me to the fourth general head of my
discourse; and that is to enquire what are those spiritual
lessons which may be learnt on earth from the pains ice
have suffered, or may suffer in the flesh. I shall divide
them into two sorts, viz. Lessons of instructiou in useful
truth, and lessons of duty, or practical Christianity ; and
there are many of each kind with which the disciples of
Christ in this world may be better acquainted,, by tlie
actual sensations of pain, than any other way. In this
tvorld I say, and in this only / for in heaven most of
these lessons of doctrine and practice are utterly need-
less to be taught, either because they have been so per-
fectly well known to all its inhabitants before, and their
present situation makes it impossible to forget them ;
or they shall be let into the fuller knowledge of them in
heaven in a far superior way of instruction, and without
any such uneasy discipline. And this I shall evidently
make appear, when 1 first enumerated all these general
lessons both of truth and duty, and shewn how wisely
the great God has appointed them to be taught here on
284 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
earth, under the scourge and the wholesome discipline
of pain in the flesh.
I. The lessons ofhistruction here on earth, or the use-
ful truths, are such as these :
1. Pain teaches us feelingly, what feeble creatures we
are, and how entirely dependant on God our maker for
every hour and moment of ease. We are naturally wild
and wanton creatures, and especially in the season of
youth, our gayer powers are gadding abroad at the call
of every temptation ; but when God sends his arrows
into our flesh, he arrests us on a sudden, and teaches us
that we are but men, poor feeble dying creatures, soon
crushed, and sinking under his hand. We are ready
to exult in the vigor of youth, when animal nature, in
its prime of strength and glory, raises our pride, and
supports us in a sort of self-sufficiency ; we are so vain
and foolish, as to imagine nothing can hurt us. But
when the pain of a little nerve seizes us, and we feel
the acute twinges of it, we are made to confess that our
fiesh is not iron, nor our bones brass ,* that we are by no
means the lords of ourselves, or sovereigns over our own
nature. We cannot remove the least degree of pain, till
the Lord who sent it takes oiF his hand, and commands
the smart to cease. If the torture fix itself but in a
finger or a toe, or in the little nerve of a tooth, what in-
tense agonies may it create in us, and that beyond all
the relief of medicines, till the moment wherein God
shall give us ease. This lesson of the frailty of human
nature must be some time written upon our hearts in deep
and smarting characters, by intense pain, before we have
learnt it well ; and this gives us, for some time to come,
a happy guard against our pride and vanily ; Psalms
xxxix. 10. When David felt the stroke of the hand
of God upon him, and corrected him with sharp rebukes
for his iniquity, he makes an humble address to God,
and acknowledges that his beauty, and all the boasted
\
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED, 285
exceUencies of flesh and blood, consume away like a
moth; surely every man is vanity f Psalm xxxix. 10, 11.
2. The next useful truth in which pain instructs us,
Is the great evil that is contained in the nature of sin,
because it is the occasion of such intense pain and mis-
ery to human nature. 1 grant, I have hinted this before,
but I would have it more powerfully impressed upon
our spirits, and therefore I introduce it here again in
this part of my discourse as a spiritual lesson, which we
learn under the discipline of our heavenly Father.
It is true indeed that innocent nature was made capa-
ble of pain in the first Adam, and the innocent nature
of the man Jesus Christ suifered acute pain, when he
came in the likeness of sinful flesh. But if Adam had
continued in this state of innocence, it is a great ques-
tion with me, whether he or his children would have
actually tasted or felt what acute pain is ; I mean such
pain as we now suifer, such as makes us so far unhappy^
and such as we cannot immediately relieve.
It may be granted, that natural hunger, and thirst,
and weariness after labor, would have carried in them
some degrees of pain or uneasiness, even in the state of
innocence ; but these are necessary to awaken nature to
seek food and rest, and to put the man in mind to supply
his natural wants ; and man might have immediately
relieved them himself, for the supplies of ease were at
band ; and these sort of uneasinesses were abundantly
compensated by the pleasure of rest and food, and per-
haps they were in some measure necessary to make
food and rest pleasant.
But surely if sin had never been known in our world,
all the pain that arises from inward diseases of nature,
or from outward violence, had been a stranger to the
human race, an unknown evil among the sons of men,
as it is among the holy angels, the sons of God. There
had been no distempers or acute pains to meet young
286 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
babes at their entrance into this world ; no maladies to
attend the sons and daughters of Adam through the
journey of life ; and they should have been translated
to some higher and happier region, without death, and
withot pain.
It was the eating of the tree of knowledge of good
and evil, that acquainted Adam and his offspring with
the evil of pain. Or if pain could have attacked inno-
cence in any form or degree, it would have been but
in a way of trial, to exercise and illustrate his virtues ;
and if he had endured the test, and continued innocent,
I am satisfied he should never liave felt any pain which
was not overbalanced with superior pleasure, or abun-
dantly recompenced by succeeding rewards and satis
factions.
Some persons indeed, have supposed it within the
reach of the sovereignty of God to afflict and torment a
sinless creature. Yet I think it is hardly consistent
with his goodness, or his equity, to constrain an inno-
cent being, which has no sin, to suffer pain without his
own consent, and without giving that creature equal or
superior pleasure as a recorapence. Both those were
the case in tlie sufferings of our blessed Lord in his
human nature, who was perfectly innocent. It was
with his own consent that he gave himself up to be a
sacrifice, when it pleased the Father to bruise him and
put him to grief. And God rewarded him with trans-
cendant honors and joys after his passion, he exalted
him to his own right hand and his throne, and gave
him authority over all tilings.
In general therefore we have sufficient reason to say,
that as sin brought in death into human nature, so it
was sin that brought in pain also ; and wheresoever
there is any pain suffered among the sons and daughters
of men, I am sure we may venture to assert boldly, tliat
the sufferer may learn the evil of sin. Even the Son of
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 287
God himself, when he suffered pain in his body, as well
as anguish in his spirit, has told us by his apostles,
that our sins were the causes of it ; he bore our sins on
his own body on the tree, and for our iniquities he was
bruised, so says Isaiah the prophet, and so speaks Peter
the apostle.
And sometimes the providence of God is pleased to
point out to us the particular sin we are guilty of by the
special punishment which he inflicts. In Psalm cvii.
17, iS, fools are said to be affl.icted; that is, with pain
and sickness, because of their transgressions of riot and
intemperance; their soul abhors all manner of meat, and
they draw near to the gates of death. Sickness and
pain overbalance all the pleasures of luxury in meats
and drinks, and makes the epicure pay dear for the
elegance of his palate, and the sweet relish of his mor-
sels or his cups. The drunkard in his debauchees, is
preparing some smarting pain for his own punislunent.
And let us all be so wise as to learn tlris lesson by the
pains we feel, that sin which introduced them into the
world, is an abominable tiling in the sight of God, be-
cause it provokes him to use such smarting strokes of
discipline, in order to recover us from our folly, and
to reduce us back again to the paths of righteousness.
O blessed smart ! O happy pain, that helps to soften
the heart of a sinner, and melts it to receive divine in-
struction, which before was h^rd as iron, and at^eniSed
to no divine counsel ! We are ready to wander from
God, and forget him amongst the montlis and the years
of ease and pleasure ; but when the soul is melted in
this furnace of painful sufferings, it more easily receives
some divine stamp, some lasting impression of truHi,
which the words of the preacher and the book of God,
had before inculcated without success, and repeated
almost in vain. Happy is the soul that learns this les-
son thoroughly, and gains a more lasting acquaintance
:^88 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
with the evil of sin, and abliorrence of it, under the
smarting stroke of the hand of God. Blessed is the man
whom thou correctest, O Lord, and teachest him the
truths that are written in thy law ; Psalm xciv. 12.
3. Fain in the flesh teaches us also how dreadfully the
great God can punish sin and sinners ichen he pleasei?,
in this ivorld or in the other. It is written in the song
of Moses, the man of God ; Psalm xc. 11 ; According
to thy fear, so is thy wrath ; that is, the displeasure and
auger of the blessed God is as terrible as we can fear it
to be ; and he cau inflict on us such intense pains and
agonies, whose distressing smart we may learii by feel-
ing a little of them. Unknown multiplications of rack-
ing pain, lengtliened out beyond years and ages, is part
of the description of hellish torments, aud tlie other part
lies in the bitter twinges of conscience, and keen remorse
of soul, for our past iniquities, but without all hope.
Beliold a man under a sharp fit of the gout or stone,
which wrings the groans from his heart, and tears from
his eyelids ; this is the hand of God in the present
world, where there are many mixtures of divine good-
ness ; but if ever we should be so wilfully unliappy as
to be plunged into those regions where the almighty
vengeance of God reigns, without one beam of divine
light or love, this must be dreadful indeed. It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God;
Ileb. X. 31 ; to be banished far off* from all that is holy
and happy, and to be confined to that dark dungeon,
that place of torture, where the gnawing worm of con-
science never dies, and where the fire of divine anger is
never quenched.
We who are made up of flesh and blood, which is
interwoven witli many nerves and muscles, and mem-
branes, may learn a little of the terrors of the Lord, if
we reflect that every nerve, muscle, and membrane of the
body, is capable of giving us most sharp aud painful sen-
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. g89
satious. We may be wounded in every sensible part of
nature ; smart and anguish may enter in at every pore,
and make almost every atom of our constitution an in-
strument of our anguish. Fearfully and wonderfully
are we formed indeed, capable of pain all over us ; and
if a God shall see fit to punish sin to its full desert, and
penetrate every atom of our nature with pain, what sur-
prising and intolerable misery must that be ? And if
God should raise the wicked out of their graves to dwell
in such sort of bodies again, on purpose to shew his just
anger against sin in their punishment, how dreadful, he^
yond expression, must their anguish be through the long
ages of eternity ? God can form even such bodies for
immortality, and can sustain them to endure everlasting
agonies.
Let us think again, that when the hand of our Crea-
tor sends pain into our flesh, we cannot avoid it, we can-
not fly from it, we carry it with us wheresoever we go.
His arrows stick fast in us, and we cannot shake them
off. Oftentimes it appears that we can find no relief from
creatures. And if by the destruction of ourselves, that
is, of these bodies, we plunge ourselves into the world
of spirits at once, we shall find the same God of holiness
and vengeance there, who can pierce our souls with un-
known sorrows, equal, if not superior, to all that we felt
in the flesh. If I make m^ bed in the grave, Lord, thou
art there, thy hand of justice and punishment would
find me out.
What a formidable thing is it to such creatures as we
are, to have God, our Maker, for our enemy ? That
God who has all the tribes of pain and disease, and the
innumerable host of maladies, at his command ? He fills
the air in which we breathe, with fevers and pestilences
as often as he will. The gout and the stone arrest and
seize us by his order, and stretch us upon a bed of pain.
Rheumatisms and cholics come and go wheresoever he
37
a90 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
sends them, and execute his anger agahist criminals. He
keeps in his hand all the various springs of pain, and
every invisible rack that can torment the head or mem-
bers, the bowels or the joints of man. He sets them at
their dreadful work when and where he pleases. Let
the sinner tremble at the name of his power and terror,
who can fill both flesh and spirit with thrilling agonies ;
and yet he never punishes beyond what our iniquities de-
serve. How necessary is it for such sinful and guilty
beings as we are, whose natures are capable of such con-
stant and acute sensations of pain, to have the God of
nature our friend and our reconciled God ?
4. When we feel the acute pains of nature, we may
learn something of the exceeding greatness of the love
of Christ, even the Son of God, that glorious Spirit,
who took upon him flesh and blood for our sakes, that
he might be capable of pain and death, though he had
never sinned. He endured intense anguish, to make
atonement for our crimes. Because the children whom
he came to save from misery ivera j^artakers of flesh and
hlood, he also himself took part of the same, that he
might suffer in the flesh, and by his sufferings put away
our sins.
Happy was he in his Father's bosom, and the delight
of his soul through many long ages before his incarna-
tion. But he condescended to be born in the likeness of
sinful flesh, that he might feel such smart and sorrows
as our sins had exposed us to. His innocent and holy
soul was incapable of such sort of sufferings, till he put
on this clothing of human nature, and become a Surety
for sinful, perishing creatures.
Let us survey his sufferings a little. He w as born to
sorrow, and trained up through the common uneasy cir-
cumstances of the infant and childisli state, till lie grew
up to man. What pains did attend him in hunger and
thirst, and weariness, while he travelled on foot from city
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 291
to city, through wilds and deserts, where there was no
food nor rest ? The Son of man sometimes wanted
the common bread of nature, nor had he where to lay
his head. What uneasy sensations was he exposed to,
when he was buffeted, when he was smitten on the
cheek, when his tender flesh was scourged with whips,
and his temples were crowned with thorns, when his
hands and his feet were barbarously torn with rude nails,
and fastened to the cross, where the whole weight of his
body hung on those wounds ? And w hat man or angel
can tell the inward anguish, when his soul was exceed-
ing sorrowful unto death ; and the conflicts and agonies
of his spirit forced out the drops of bloody sweat througli
every pore. It was by the extreme torture of his nature,
that he was supposed to expire on the cross. These
were the pangs of his atonement and agonies, that expi-
ated the sins of men.
O blessed Jesus ! What manner of sufferings were
these ? And what manner of love was it that willingly
gave up thy sacred nature to sustain them ? And what
was the design of them, but to deliver us from the wrath
of God in hell, to save our flesh and spirit from eternal
anguish and distress there ? Why was he made such a
curse for us, but that he might redeem us from the curse
of the law, and the just punishment of our own iniquities.
Let us carry our thoughts of his love, and our benefit
by it, yet one step further. Was it not by these sorrows,
and this painful passion, that he provided for us this very
heaven of happiness, where we shall be for ever freed
from all pain ? Were they not all endured by him to
procure a paradise of pleasure, a mansion of everlasting
peace and joy for guilty creatures, who had merited
everlasting pain ? Was it not by these his agonies in
the mortal body which he assumed, that he purchased
for each of us a glorified body, strong and immortal as
his own, when he rose from the dead, a body which has
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
no seeds of disease or pain in it, no springs of mortality
or death ? May §lory, honor, and praise, with supreme
pleasure, ever attend the sacred person of our Redeemer,
whose sorrows and anguish of flesh and spirit, were
equal to our misery, and to his own compassion.
5. Another lesson which we are taught by the long
and tiresome pains of nature, is the value and worth of
the word of God, and the sweetness of a promise which
can give the kindest relief to a painful hour, and sooth
the anguish of nature. They teach us the excellency of
the covenant of grace, which has sometimes strengthened
the feeblest pieces of human nature to bear intense suf-
ferings in the body, and which sanctifies them all to our
advantage. Painful and tiresome maladies teach us to
improve the promises to valuable purposes, and the
promises take away half the smart of our pains by the
sensations of divine love let into the soul.
We read of philosophers and heroes in some ancient
histories, who could endure pain by dint of reasoning,
by a pride of their science, by an obstinacy of heart, or
by natural courage ; but a christian takes the word of a
promise, and lies down upon it in the midst of intense
pains of nature ; and the pleasure of devotion supplies
him with such ease, that all the reasonings of philosophy,
all the courage of nature, all the anodynes of medicine,
and soothing plaisters have attempted without success.
When a child of God can read his Fatlier's love in a
promise, and by searching into the qualifications of liis
own soul, can lay faster hold of it by a living faith, the
rage of his pain is much allayed, and made half easy. A
promise is a sweet couch to rest a languishing body in
the midst of pains, and a soft repose for the head or
heart- ache.
The Stoics pretended to give ease to pain, by per-
suading themselves there was no evil in it ; as thougli
the mere misnaming of things would destroy their na-
NO PAIN AMONG THE BI.ESSED. 29g
ture. But the christian, by a sweet submission to the
evil which his heavenly Father inflicts upon his flesh,
reposes himself at the foot of Gcd on the covenant of
grace, and bears the wounds and the smart with much
more serenity and honor. '* It is my heavenly Father that
scourges me, and I know he designs me no hurt, though
he fills my flesh with pi'esent pain. His own presence
and the sense of his love, soften the anguish of all that
I feel. He bids me not yield to fear, for when I pass
through the fires he will he with me ; and he that loved
me, and died for me, has suffered greater sorrows and
more anguish on my account, than what he calls me to
bear under the strokes of his wise and holy discipline.
He has left his word with me as an universal medicine,
to relieve me under all my anguish, till he shall bring
me to those mansions on high, where sorrows and pains
are found no more."
6. Anguish and pain of nature here on earth teach us
the excellency and use of the mercy seat in heaveii. and
the admirable privilege of prayer. Even the sons of
mere nature, are ready to think of God at such a season ;
and they who never prayed before, pour out a prayer he-
fore him when his chastening is upon them ; Isaiah
xxvi. 16. An hour of twinging and tormenting pain,
when creatures and medicines can give no relief, drives
them to the throne of God, to try wSiether he will relieve
them or not. But much more delightful is it for a child
of God that has been used to address the throne of grace,
to run thither with pleasure and hope, and to spread all
his anguish before the face of his heavenly Father. The
blessed God has built this mercy-seat for his people to
bring all their son^ows thither, and spread them before
his eyes in all their smarting circumstances, and he has
been often pleased to speak a word of relief.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he dwelt in flesh and
blood, practised this part of religion with holy satisfac-
294 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
tioii and success. Being in an agony he prayed more
earnestly J and an angel was sent to strengthen and com-
fort him ; Luke xxii. 43, 44. This was the relief of
holy David in ancient times; Psalm xxv. 18. Look
upon my affiiction and my pain, and pardon all my sins ;
Psalm cxvi. S, 4. The sorrows of death compasseth me,
and the pains of hell, or the grave, took hold of me ; then
called I upon the name of the Lord ; O Lord, I beseech
thee, deliver my soul. And when he found a gracious
answer to his request, he acknowledges the grace of God
therein, and charges his soul to dwell near to God ; re-
turn to thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt
bountifully with thee. I was brought low, and he helped
me ; he delivered my soul from death, and mine eyes
from tears.
But we have stronger encouragement than David was
acquainted with, since it is revealed to us. that we have
an High Priest at this throne ready to bespeak all ne-
cessary relief for us there ; Heb. ii. 18. An High Priest
7vho can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
who has sustained the same sorrows and pains in the
flesh, who can pity and relieve his people under their
maladies and acutest anguish ; Heb. iv. 15. When we
groan and sigh under continued pains, they are ready to
make nature weary and faint. We groan unto the Lord,
who knows the language of our frailty. Our High
Priest carries every groan to the mercy- seat. His com-
passion works towards his brethren, and he will suffer
them to continue no longer under this discipline, than is
necessary for their own best improvement and happiness.
O how much of this sort of consolation has many a
christian learnt and tasted, by a holy intercourse with
heaven, in such painful seasons? How much has he
learnt of the tender mercies of God the Fatlier, and of
t he pity and sympathy of our great High Priest above ?
Wlio would be content to live in such a painful world as
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 2Q5
this is, without the pleasure aud relief of prayer ? Who
would live without an interest at this mercy-seat, and
without the supporting friendship of this Advocate at the
throne ?
Thus I have run over the chief lessons of instruction
or doctrine, which may he derived from our sensations of
pain here in this world. But there is no need of this
sort of discipline in the blessed regions of heaven to teach
the irdial)itants such truths.
They will remember what feeble, helpless creatures
they icere when they dwelt in flesli and blood ; but tliey
have put off those ileshly garments of mortality, with all
its weaknesses together. The spirits of the blessed
know nothing of those frailties, ,nor shall the bodies of
the saints, new raised from the dust, bring back any of
their old infirmities with them. These blessed creatures
know well how entirely dependent they are for all things
upon God their Creator, without the need of pains and
maladies to teach them, for they live every moment with
God, and in a full dependence upon him. They are
supported in their life, and all its everlasting blessings,
by his immediate presence, power and mercy.
They liave no need of pain in those fields or gardens
of pleasure to teach them tlie evil of sin ; they well re-
member all the sorrows they have passed through in their
mortal state, while they were traversing tlie wilderness
of this world, and they know that sin was the cause of
them all. They see the evil of sin in the glass of the
divine holiness, and the hateful contrariety that is in it to
the nature of God, is discovered in the immediate light of
all his perfections, his wisdom, his truth, and his good-
ness. They behold the evil of sin in the marks of the
sufferings of their blessed Saviour ; he appears in glory
as the JLamb that was slam, and carries some memorials
of his death about him, to let the saints know for ever
what he has suffered to make atonement for their sins.
:396 ^O PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
Nor have the blessed above any need to learn how
dreadfully God can punish sin and sinners^ while they
behold his indignation going forth in a long and endless
stream, to make the wicked enemies of God in hell for
ever justly miserable. And in this sense it may be said,
that the smoke of their torments comes up before God and
his holy angels, and his saints for ever.
Nor do these happy beings stand in need of new sen-
sations of pain, to teach them the exeeeding greatness of
the love of Christ, who exposed himself to intense and
smarting anguish, both of the flesh and spirit, to procure
their salvation. For while they dwell amidst the bles-
sedness of that state, which the Redeemer purcliased
with the price of his own sufierings, they can never ferget
his love.
Nor do they want to learn in heaven the value of the
word of God and his promises, by which they were sup-
ported under their pains and sorrows in this mortal state.
Those promises have been fuliilled to them partly on
earth, and in a more glorious and abundant manner in
the heavenly world. They relish the sweetness of all
those words of mercy, in reviewing the means whereby
divine grace sustained them in their former state of trial,
and in the complete accomplisliment of the best of those
promises in their present situation, amidst ten thousand
endless blessings.
And if any of them were too cold and remiss, and un-
frequent in their applications to the mercy-seat by prayer,
when they were here on earth, and stood in need of chas-
tisement to make them pour out their prayers to God, yet
they can never forget the value of this privilege, while
they themselves dwell round about the throne, and behold
all ther ancient sincere addresses to the mercy-seat an-
swered and swallowed up in the full fruition of their
present glories and joys. Praise is properly the lan-
guage of heaven, when all their wants are supplied, and
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 297
their jjrayers on earth are finished ; and whatever fur-
ther desires they may have to present before God, the
throne of grace is ever at hand, and God himself is ever
in the midst of them to bestow every proper blessing in
its season that belongs to the heavenly world. Not one
of them can any more stand in need of chastisement or
painful exercises of the flesh to drive them to the throne
of God, while they are at home in their Father's house,
and for ever near him and his all-sufficiency. It is from
thence they are constantly deriving immortal supplies of
blessedness, as from a spring that will never fail.
SECTION V.
I proceed now to consider in the last place, what are
the practical lessons which pain may teach us while we
are here on earth in our state of probation and discipline,
and shall afterward make it evident, that there is no
need of pain in heaven for the same purposes.
1. The frequent returns of pain may put us in mind
to offer to God his due sacrifices of praise for the months
and years of ease which we have enjoyed : we are too
ready to forget the mercy of God herein, unless we are
awakened by new painful sensations ; and when we
experience new relief, then our lips are opened with
thankfulness, and our mouth shews forth his praise.
Then we cry out with devout language. Blessed be the
Lord that has delivered us ! Wlien we have been op-
pressed for some time with extreme anguish, then one
day, or one hour of ease fills the heart and the tongue
with thankfulness ; blessed be the God of nature that has
appointed medicines to restore our ease, and blessed be
that goodness that has given success to them! What a
rich mercy is it, under our acute torments, tliat there are
methods of relief and healing found among the powers
of nature, among the plants and the herbs. a!id the min-
38
398 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
eral stores which are under ground? Blessed be the
Lord, who in the course of his providence has given
skill to physicians to compose and to apply the proper
means of relief! Blessed be that hand that has plant-
ed every herb in the field or the garden, and has
made the bowels of the earth to team with medicines
for the recovery of our health and ease ; and blessed
be his name who has rebuked our maladies, who has
constrained the smarting diseases to depart by the use
of balms and balsams that are happily applied !
While we enjoy the benefits of common life, in health
of body and in easy circumstances, we are too often
thoughtless of the hand of God, which showers down
these favors of heaven upon us in long and constant suc-
cession ; but when he sees fit to touch us with his finger,
and awaken some lurking malady within us, our ease
vanishes, our days are restless and painful, and tiresome
nights of darkness pass over us without sleep or repose.
Then we repent that we have so long forgotten the God
of our mercies ; and we learn to lift up our praises to the
Lord, that every night of our lives lias not been restless,
that every day and hour has not been a season of racking
pain. Blessed be the Lord that enables us, without an-
guish or uneasiness, to fulfil the common business of the
day ; and blessed be his hand that draws the peaceful
curtains of the night round about us ! And even in the
midst of moderate pains, we bless his name who gives
us refreshing slumbers ; and we grow more careful to
employ and improve every moment of returning ease, as
the most proper way of expressing our thankfulness to
our Almighty healer.
Alas, what poor, sorry, sinful creatures are we in
the present state, who want to be taught the value of
our mercies by the removal of them ! Tlie man of a
robust and vigorous make, and a healthy constitution,
knows not the true worth of health and ease, nor sets
a due value upon these blessings of heaven ! But we
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
are taught to thank God feelingly, for an easy hour
after long repeated twinges of pain. We bless that
goodness which gives us an easy night after a day of
distressing anguish. Blessed be the God of nature and
grace, that has not made the gout or the stone immortal,
nor subjected our sensible powers to an everlasting
cholick or tooth-ache.
2. Pain in the flesh more effectually teaches us to
sympathise with those who suffer. We learn a ten-
derness of soul experimentally by our own sufferings.
We generally love self so well that we forget our neigh-
bors under special tribulation and distress, unless we
are made to feel them too. lu a particular manner,
"when our nature is pinched and pierced through with
some smarting malady, we learn to pity those Avho lie
groaning under the same disease. A kindred of sor-
rows and sufferings works up our natures into compas-
sion ; and we find our own hearts more sensibly affect-
ed with the groans of our friends under a sharp fit of
the gout or rheumatism, when we ourselves have felt
the stings of the same distemper.
Our blessed Saviour himself, though he wanted nor
compassion and love to the children of men, since he
came down from heaven on purpose to die for them, yet
he is represented to us as our merciful High Priest, who
had learnt sympathy and compassion to our sorrows in
the same way of experience as we learn it. He was,
encompassed about with infirmities, when he took the
sinless frailties of our nature upon him, that he might
learn to pity us under those frailties. In that he hi7n-
self hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour
them that are tempted. For we have not an High Priest
which cannot be touched with thefeelins; of our infirmi-
ties, but was in all points tempted like as we are, though
he ivas always without sin ; and by the things which he
suffered, he may be said, after the manner of men, to
300 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
learn sympathy and pity to miserable creatures, as well
as obedience to God, who is blessed for ever ; Heb. ii.
18, and iv. 15, and v. 2. 8.
3. Since our natures are subject to pain, it should
teach us watchfulness against every sin, lest we double
our own distresses by the mixture of guilt with them.
How careful should we be to keep always a clear con-
science, that we may be able at all times to look up with
pleasure to the hand of God who smites us, and be bet-
ter composed to endure the pains whicli he inflicts upon
us for our trial and improvement in grace. Innocence
and piety, and a peaceful conscience, are an admirable
defence to support the spirit against the overwhelming
eiforts of bodily pain. But when inward reproaches of
mind, and a racking conscience join with acute pain in
the flesh, it is double misery, and aggravated wretched-
ness. The scourges and inward remorse of our owii
hearts, joined to the sorrows of nature, add torment to
torment. How dreadful is it when we are forced to
confess, 1 have procured all this to myself by intemper-
ance, by my rashness, by my obstinacy against the advice
q/* friends, and rebellion against the commands of God.
Probably it was such circumstances as these, tliat
gave the soul of David double anguish, ' when his bones
waxed old, through his roaring all the day long, when
day and night the hand of God was heavy upon him,
and his moisture was turned into tlie drought of sum-
mer ; when he complained unto God, thine arrows stick
fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore ; there is no
soundness in my flesh, because of thine anger ; nor any
rest in my bones, because of my sin. Mine iniquities
are gone over mine head as a heavy burden, they are
too heavy for me. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of
thy water-spouts ; all thy waves and thy billows are
gone over me.' The deep of anguish in my flesh calls
to the deep of sorrow in my soul, and makes a tremend-
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 301
ous tumult within me. My wounds stinky and are cor-
rupt, because of my foolishness ; I am feeble and sore
broken ; I have roared by reason of the disquietness of
my heart ; nor could he find any rest or ease till he ac-
knowledged his sin unto God, and confessed his trans-
gressions, and till he had some comfortable hope that
God had forgiven the iniquity of his sin. See this sor-
rowful scene exemplified in a very affecting manner in
the 32d and 38th Psalms. Happy is the man that walks
closely with his God in the days of health and ease,
that whenever it shall please his heavenly Father to try
him with smarting pain, he may find sweet relief from
a peaceful conscience, and humble appeals to God con-
cerning his own sincerity and watchfulness.
4. Pain in the flesh may sometimes be sent by the
hand of God, to teach us to wean ourselves by degrees
from this body, which we love too well ; this body, which
has all the springs of pain in it. How little should we
be fond of this flesh and blood in the present feeble state,
wherein we are continually liable to one malady or
another ; to the head-ache or the heart-ache, to wounds
or biTiises, and uneasy sensations of various kinds ? Nor
can the soul secure itself from them, while it is so
closely united to this mortal body. And yet we are too
fond of our present dwelling, though it be but a cottage
of clay, feeble and ruinous, where the winds and the
storms are continually ready to break in and distress us.
A sorry habitation indeed for an immortal spirit, since
sin has mingled so many diseases in our constitution,
has made so many avenues for smart and anguish in our
flesh, and we are capable of admitting pain and agonies
at every pore.
Pain is appointed to be a sort of balance to the tempt-
ing pleasures of life, and to make us feel that perfect
happiness does not grow among the inhabitants of flesh
and blood. Pain takes away the pleasures of the day
SOS NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
and the repose of the night, and makes life bitter in all
the returning seasons. The God of nature and grace
is pleased, by sending sickness and pain, to loosen his
own children by degrees from their fond attachment to
this fleshly tabernacle, and to make us willing to depart
at his call.
A long continuance of pain, or the frequent repeated
twinges of it, will teach a christian and incline him to
meet death with courage, at the appointed hour of re-
lease. This will much abate the fierceness of the king
of terrors, when he appears as a sovereign physician to
finish every malady of nature. Death is sanctified to
the holy soul, and by the covenant of grace this curse of
nature is changed into a blessing. The grave is a safe
retiring place from all the attacks of disease and anguish.
And there are some incurables here on earth, which can
find no perfect relief but in the grave. Neither maladies
nor tyrants can stretch their terrors beyond this life ;
and if we can but look upon death as a conquered enemy,
and its sting taken away by the death of Christ, we shall
easily venture into this last combat, and obtain an ever-
lasting victory. Blessed be God for the grave as a
refuge from smarting pains ! Thanks be to God through
Christ Jesus, who enables us to triumph over the last
pain of nature, and to say, O death where is thy sting ?
and 0 grave wliere is thy victory P
In the fifth and last place, by the pains that we suffer
in this body, we are taught to breathe after the blessed-
ness of the heavenly state wherein there shall be no pain.
When the soul is dismissed from the bonds of flesh, and
presented before God in the world of spirits without spot
or blemish by Jesus our great Forerunner, it is then ap-
pointed to dwell among the spirits of the just made per-
fect, who were all released in their several seasons from
the body of flesh and sin. Maladies and infirmities of
every kind are buried in the grave/, and cease for ever :
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. 303
and if we survey the properties of the new raised body
in the great resurrection day, as described 1 Cor. xv. we
shall find no room for pain there, no avenue or residence
for smart or anguish. It will not be such a body of flesh
and blood which can be a source of maladies, or subject
to outward injuries ; but by its own principles of innate
vigor and immortality, as well as by the power and
mercy of God, it shall be for ever secured from those
uneasy sensations which made our flesh on earth painful
and burdensome, and which tended toward dissolution
and death. It is such a body as our Lord Jesus wore
at his ascent to heaven in a bright cloud for ever incor-
ruptible ; fot^'flesh and blood connot inherit the kingdom
of God, neither doth corrujption inherit incorruption.
Jls we have home the image of the earthly Ac! am in the
frailties and sufferings that belong to it, so shall we also
hear the image of the heavenly, even the Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may he
fashioned like unto his own glorious body, according to
the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto
himself; Phil. iii. SI. We shall hunger no more, we
shall thirst no more, nor shall the sun light on us with
its parching beams, nor shall we be annoyed with fire
or frost, with heat or cold, in those temperate and happy-
regions. The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne
shall feed his people for ever there with the fruits of the
tree of life, and with unknown entertainments suited to
a glorified state. He shall lead them to living fountains
of waters, and God shall wijpe away all tears from their
eyes.
Thus have I set before you the practical lessons which
pain is designed to teach us in our present state ; and
we find that a body subject to maladies and pains, is a
well appointed school, wherein our great Master gives
us these divine instructions, and trains us up by degrees
for the heavenly world. It is rough discipline indeed
for the flesh, but it is wholesoire for tlie soul. And
304 NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED.
there is many a christian here on earth that has been
made to confess, he had never learnt the practice of
some of these virtues, if he had not been taught by such
sort of discipline. Pain which was brought into human
nature at first by sin, is happily suited by the providence
of God to such a state of probation, wherein creatures
born in the midst of sins and sorrows, are by degrees
recovered to the love of God and holiness, and fi.tted for
a world of peace and joy.
But when we have done with this world, and departed
from the tribes of mortal men, and from all the scenes
of allurement and temptation, there is no more need that
such lessons should be taught us in heaven, nor any
painful scourge made use of by the Father of spirits, to
carry on, or to maintain the divine work of holiness and
grace Avithin us. Let us survey this matter according
to the foregoing particulars.
Is it possible that while the blessed above are sur-
rounded with endless satisfactions flowing from the
throne of God and the Lamb, they should forget their
benefactor, and neglect his irraises? Is it possible they
should dwell in immortal health and ease without inter-
ruption, under the constant vital influences of the King
of Glory, and yet want gratitude to the spring of all their
blessings ?
Nor is there any need for the inhabitants of a world
where no pains nor sorrows are found, to learn compas-
sion and sympathy to those who suffer, for there are no
sufferings there. But love and joy, intense and intimate
love, and a harmony of joy runs through all that blessed
company, and unites them in an universal sympathy, if
I may so express it, or blissful sensation of each other's
happiness. And I might add also, could there be such
a thing as sorrow and misery in those regions, this
divine principle of love would work sweetly and pow-
erfully towards such objects in all necessary compassion.
What if pain was once made a spur to our duties in
I
NO PAIN AMONG THE BLESSED. S05
this frail state of flesh and blood ? What if pain were
designed as a guard against temptation, and a means to
awaken our watch against new transgression and guilt ?
But in a climate where all is holiness, and all is peace,
in the full enjoyment of the great God, and secured by
that everlasting covenant which was sealed by the blood
of the Lamb, there is no more danger of sinning. The
aoul is moulded into the more complete likeness of Grod,
by living for ever under the light of his countenance and
the warmest beams of his love.
What if we had need of the stings of pain and an-
guish in time past, to wean us hy degrees from this body,
and from all sensible things, and to make us willing to
part with them all at the call of God ? Yet when we
arrive at the heavenly world, we shall have no more
need of being weaned from earth, we shall never look
back upon that state of pain and frailty with a wishful
eye, being for ever satisfied in theaffluenceof present joys.
O glorious and happy state ! where millions of crea-
tures who have dwelt in bodies of sin and pain, and
have been guilty of innumerable follies and oflfences
against their Maker, yet they are all forgiven, their
robes are washed and made white in the blood of Jesus,
their iniquities are cancelled for ever, and there shall
not be one stroke more from the hand of God to chasten
them, nor one more sensation of pain to punish them.
Divine and illustrious privilege indeed ! and a glorious
world, where complete sanctification of all the powers of
nature shall for ever secure us from new sins, and
where the springs and causes of pain shall for ever cease,
both within us and without us. Our glorified bodies
shall have no avenue for pain to enter ; the gates of
heaven shall admit no enemy to afflict or hurt us ; God
is our everlasting friend, and our souls shall be satisfied
with the rivers of pleasure which Jtoiv for ever at the
right hand of God. Amen.
39
DISCOURSE X.
THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT; OR,
THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN.
ROM. viii. 23.
And not only they, but ourselves also who have the first
fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the re-
demption of the body.
SECTION I.
IT is by a beautiful figure of speech the apostle had
been describing, in the foregoing verses, the unnatural
abuse which the creatures suffer through the sins of men,
when they are employed to sinful purposes and the dis-
honor of Grod their Creator. Permit me to read tlie
words, and represent the sense of them in a sliort par-
aphrase. Verse 22 ; We Jcnoiv that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. The
earth itself may be represented as groaniyig to bear such
loads of iniquity, such a multitude of wicked men who
abuse the creatures of Ood, to the dishonor of him that
made them. The air may be said to groan to give
breath to those vile wretches who abuse it in filthiness
and foolish talking, to the dishonor of God, and to the
scandal of their neighbors ; it groans to furnish men
with breath that is abused in idolatry, by tlie false wor-
ship of the true God, or the worship of creatures, which
is abominable in his sight. The sun itself may be said
to groan to give light to those sinners who abuse both
day-light and darkness, in rioting and wantonness, iu
THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT, &c. 307
doing mischief among men and committing fresh iniqui-
ties against their Maker. The moon and stars are
abused by adulterers and thieves, and other midniglit
sinners, when they any way afford light enough to them
to guide them in their pursuit of wicked ways and prac-
tices. The beasts of burden may be said to groan and
be abused, when they bear the wicked sons and daugh-
ters of Adam to the accomplishment of their iniquities.
And even all the parts of the brutal world, as well as of
the inanimate creation, are some way or other made to
serve the detestable and wicked purposes of the sinful
children of men, and may be figuratively said to groan
on this account. And if we have tasted of the fruits of
the Spirit of grace, we cannot but in some measure groan
with the rest of the creation, in the expectation of the
blessed day, when the creatures shall be delivered from
this bondage of corruption, to which the providence of
God has suffered them to be subjected in this degenerate
state of things.
We hope there is a time coming, when the creatures
themselves shall be used according to the original ap-
pointment of their Maker, agreeable to their own first
design, and for the good of their fellow-creatures, and
supremely for the honor of their God, in that day when
holiness to the Lord shall be written upon the bells of the
horses; and every pot in Jerusalem shall be holiness unto
the Lord of hosts. Why should we not join then with
the whole creation, in groaning and longing after this
promised time, when all the works of God shall be re-
stored to their rightful use, and the glory of the Maker
shall some way or other be made to shine in every one
of them ?
The apostle then adds, in the Avords of my text and
not these creatures only, but ourselves also, ivho have the
first fruits of the Spirit, we who are filled -vith the gifts
and graces of the Holy Spirit ; and eminently the first
SOS THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ;
fruits hereof appear in our taste and relish of the divine
provisions that God has given us here in this world, to
prepare for a better ; and even bestows upon some of his
christian servants, these first fruits of the tree of paradise,
these blessings, and these foretastes which are near akin
to those of the upper world, when the saints shall be
raised from the dead, when their adoption shall be clearly
manifested, and they shall look like the children of God,
and their bodies and all their natural powers shall be
redeemed from those disorders, whether of sin or sorrow,
and from all tlie springs and seeds of them, which they
are more or less liable to feel in the present state.
Here let it be observed, that the Jirst fruits of any
field, or plant, or tree, are of the same kind with the full
product or the harvest ; therefore it is plain, that the first
fruits of the Spirit in this place, cannot chiefly signify
the gifts of the Spirit, such as the gifts of tongues, or of
healing, or of miracles, nor the gifts of prophecy, preach-
ing, or praying, because these are not the employments
nor the enjoyments of heaven. The first fruits of the
Spirit must rather refer therefore, to the knowledge and
holiness, the graces and^^e joys, wliich are more perfect
and glorious in the heavenly state, than they were ever
designed to be here upon earth. Now these first fruits
of graces and joys are sometimes bestowed upon chris-
tians in this world, in such a degree as brings them near
to the heavenly state. And that is the chief observation
I design to draw from these words, viz. That God has
heen pleased to give some of his children here on earthy
several of the foretastes of the heavenly blessedness, the
graces, and the joys of the upper world ; as they are the
first fruits of that paradise to which we are travelling.
And these privileges have brought some of the saints
within the verge of the courts of heaven, within the con-
fines and borders of the celestial country. What these
OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 309
are I shall shew immediately ; but before I represent
them, I desire to lay down these few cautions.
Caution 1. These sensible foretastes of heaven do not
belong to^all christians; these are not such general
blessings of the covenant of grace, of which every chris-
tian is made 'partaker ; but they are special favors now
and then bestowed on some particular persons by the
special will of God. 1. Such as are more eminent in
faith, and holiness, and prayer than others are, such as
have made great advancements in every part of religion,
in mortification to the world, in spiritual mindedness, in
humility, and in much converse with God, &c. Or, 2.
Sometimes these first fruits may be given unto sucli as
are weak, both in reason and in faith, and may be babes
in Christ, and are not able by their reasoning powers to
search out their evidences for heaven, especlnlly under
some present temptation or darkness. Or, 3. Sometimes
to those who are called by providence to go through
huge and uncommon trials and sufferings, in order to
support their spirits, and bear up their coarage, their
faith and patience.
It is true, the more general and common way whereby
God prepares his people for heaven, is by leading them
through several steps of advancing holiness, sincere re-
pentance, mortification of sin, weanedness from the world,
likeness to God, heavenly mindedness, &c. These are
indeed the usual preparatives for glory, and the surest
evidences of a state of grace. Tlierefore let not any
person imagine he is not a true christian, because he
hath not enjoyed these special favors and signal man-
ifestations.
Caution 2. If there be any who have been favored
with these peculiar blessings, they must not expect them
to be constant and perpetual, nor always to be given in
the same manner or same measure ; they are rare bless-
ings and special reviving cordials ; they are not the
310 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT;
common food of christians, nor the daily nourishment of
the saints. The word of God, and the grace of Christ
in the promises, is our daily support, and the constant
nourishment of our souls. Cordials are not given for
our daily nourishment in the life of grace.
Caution 3. However great and rapturous these fore-
tastes may be, let us not so depend on them as to neglect
the more substantial and solid evidences for heaven, and
those steps of preparation which I have elsewhere men-
tioned. Let not those who have enjoyed them give a
loose to their souls, and let go their watchfulness, or neg-
lect their daily mortification and diligence in every duty.
Some of these divine raptures have sometimes been so
nearly counterfeited by raptures of fancy, by warm self-
love, or perhaps by the deceit of evil angels, that they
are not so safe a foundation for our dependance and as-
sured hope, as the soul's experience of a sincere repent-
ance, and general turn of heart to Cxod, and mortification
of sin, and delight in every practice of holiness. The
devil sometimes has transformed himself into an angel
of light ; 2 Cor. xi. 14. And there have been some who
at first hearing of the gospel, have had wondrous raptures.
Heb. vi. 4, it is said they have tasted the powers of the
world to come, &c. — who have yet fallen away again ;
and having lost all their sense and savor of divine things,
have become vile apostates.
Caution 4. If you seem to enjoy any of these affection-
ate and rapturous foretastes of heaven, be jealous of the
truth of them, if they have not a proportionable sanctify-
ing influence upon your souls and your actions.
If you find they incline you to negligence in duty, to
coldness in the common practices of religion and godli-
ness, if they make you fancy that common ordinances are
a low and needless dispensation, if they seem to excuse
you from diligence in the common duties of life towards
man, or religion towards God, there is great reason then
OR, THE FORETASTE OP HEAVEN. 311
to suspect them. There is danger lest they should be
mere suggestions and deceitful workings either of your
own natural passions, or the crafty snares of the artful
and busy adversary of souls, on purpose to make you
neglect solid religion, and make you part with what is
substantial for a bright and flashy glimpse of heavenly
things.
But on the other hand, if you find that these special
favors and enjoyments raise your hearts to a greater
nearness to God, and more constant converse with him ;
if they keep you deep in humility, and in everlasting
dependance on the grace of Christ in the gospel, and
warm and zealous attendance on the ordinances of wor-
ship ; if they teach and incline you to fulfil every duty
of love to your neighbor, and particularly to your fellow-
christians, then they appear to be the fruits of the Spirit ;
and as they fit you for every duty and every providence
here upon earth, there is very good reason to hope they
are real visits from heaven, and are sent from the God of
all grace to make you more meet for the heavenly glory.
SECTION II.
These are the four cautions. I proceed now to de-
scribe some of i\vQ.sQ foretastes of the heavenly blessedness,
and shew how nearly they resemble the blessedness and
enjoyments of the heavenly world.
First. In heaven there is a near view of God in his
glornes, ivith such a fixed contemplation of his several
perfections, as draws out the heart into all correspondent
exercises, in an uncommon, transcendent, and supreme
degree. It is described as one of the felicities of heaven,
that we shall see God ; Matt. v. 8 ; that we shall be-
hold him face to face, and not in shadows and glasses ;
1 Cor. xiii. 12. Let us exhibit some particulars of this
313 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ;
kind, and dwell a little upon them in the most easy and
natural method.
1. In heaven tlie blessed inhabitants behold the majesty
and greatness of God in such a light as fixes their
thoughts in glorious wonder and the humblest adoration,
and exalts them to the highest pleasure and praise. Have
you never fallen into such a devout and fixed contempla-
tion of the majesty of God, as to be even astonished at
his glory and greatness, and to have your souls so swal-
lowed up in his sight, that all the sorrows and the joys
of this life, all the business and necessities of it liath
been forgotten for a season, all things below and beneath
God have seemed as nothing in your eyes ? All the
grandeurs and splendors of mortality have been buried
in darkness and oblivion ; and creatures have, as it were,
vanished from the tlioughts and been lost, as the stars
die and vanish at the rising sun, aud are no more seen ?
Have you never seen the face of God in this sublime
grandeur, excellence and majesty, so as to shrink into
the dust before him, and lie low at his foot with humblest
adoration? And you have been transported into a feeling
acknowledgment of your oAvn nothingness in the presence
of God. Such a sight the prophet Isaiah seems to have
enjoyed; Isaiah Ix. 12, 15, 17; "Behold the nations
before him are as the drop of the bucket, and as the small
dust of the balance ; he taketh up the ^sles as a very
little thing. All nations before him are as nothing ; they
are counted to him less than nothing and vanity."
When the lips are not only directed to speak this sub-
lime language, but the soul, as it were, beholds God in
these heights of transcendent majesty, it is overwhelmed
with blessed wonder and surprising delight, even while
it adores in most profound lowliness and self-abasement.
This is tlie emblem of the worship of the heavenly
world ; see Hev. iv. 10. where the elders, saints and
prophets, martyi's, angels, and dominions, and principal-
OR, THE PORETASTfi OF HEAVEN. 313
ities of the highest degree cast down their crowns at the
foot of him that made them, and exalt God in his su-
premacy over all.
2. In heaven there are such blessed and extensive
surveys of the infinite knowledge of God, and his amaz-
ing wisdom discovered in his works^ as makes even all
their own heavenly improvements in knowledge and
understanding to appear as mere ignorance, darkness,
and folly before him. In such an hour as this is, the
lioly angels may charge themselves with folly in his
sight, as he beholds them in the imperfection of their
understanding. Now have you never been carried away
in your meditations of the all-comprehensive knowledge
of God to such a degree, as to lose and abandon all
your former pride and appearances of knowledge and
■wisdom in all the native and acquired riches of it,
and count them all as nothing in his sight ? Have you
never looked upward to the midnight skies, and with
amazement sent your thoughts upward to him who calls
all the stars by their names, and brings them forth in all
their sparkling glories, who marshals them in their
nightly ranks and orders, and then stood overwhelmed
with sacred astonishment at the wisdom which made and
ranged them all in their proper situations, and there ap-
pointed them to fulfil ten thousand useful purposes, and
that not only towards this little ball of earth, but to a
multitude of upper planetary worlds ? Have you never
inqured into the wonders of his wisdom in framing the
bodies, the limbs, and the senses of millions of animals,
birds, and beasts, fishes, and insects, as well as men all
around this globe, and who hath framed all their organs
and powers of nature with exquisite skill, to see and
hear, to run and fly, and swim, to produce their young
in all their proper forms and sizes, furnished with their
various powers, and to feed and nourish them in their
innumerable shapes and colours, admirable for strength
40
314* THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT;
and beauty? And have you not felt your souls filled
with devout adoration at the unspeakable and infinite
contrivances of a God ?
And not only his works of creation, but of his provi-
dence too, have afforded some pious souls such devout
amazement. What astonishing wisdom must that be
which has created mankind on earth near six thousand
years ago, and by his divine word in every age continues
to create them or give them being, with all the same
natural powers and parts, beauties and excellencies !
That he hatli wisely governed so many millions of ani-
mals with living souls or spirits in them, so many mil-
lions of intelligent creatures, endued with a free will of
their own to choose or refuse what they will or will not
do, and hath managed this innumerable company of be-
ings in all ages, notwithstanding all their different and
clashing opinions and customs, their crossing humors,
wills and passions in endless variety, and yet hath
made them all subservient to his own comprehensive
designs and purposes through all ages of the word and
all nations on earth ! What inconceivable m isdom is
that which hath effectually appointed them all to centre
in the accomplishment of his own eternal counsels ! xind
with what overwhelming amazement will this scene ap-
pear, when he shall shut up the theatre of this eartii, and
fold up these heavens as a curtain, and this visible
structure of things shall be laid in ashes ? What an as-
tonishing view must this be of the all-surveying knowl-
edge, all-comprehending wisdom of a God, and with
what holy and humble pleasure must the pious soul be
filled who takes in and enjoys this scene of infinite vari-
eties and wonders ? How near doth sucli an hour ap-
proach to the bliss of heaven and the raptures of contem-
plation, which belong to the blessed inhabitants of it.
3, I might add something of the Mmighty power of
God in his creation and Government of the world, in his
OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 3l5
kingdottis of nature and providence. Did not the angels
rejoice at the birth day of this universe, and those morn-
ing stars shout for joy at the first appearance of this
creation ? And what the inhabitants of heaven make
their song, may not a holy soul be entertained with it;,
even to extacy and rapture ? I behold, says he, in di-
vine meditation, I behold this huge structure of the uni-
verse rising out of nothing at the voice of his command ;
I behold tlie several planets in their various orders set
a moving by the same word of power. With what
delightful surprise do 1 hear him pronounce the words,
let there be light, and lo, the light appears P Let there
be earth and seas ; let there be clouds and heavens ; let
there be sun, moon and stars, and lo the heavens, and
the dry land, and the waters appear, the clouds and the
stars in their various order and situation, and all the
parts of the creation arise, all replenished with proper
ornaments and animals according to his word. At his
command nature exists in all its regions with all its fur-
niture ; the beasts, and birds, and fishes in all their
forms arise, and at once they obey the several Almighty
orders he gave, and by the unknown and unconceivable
force of such a word they leap out into existence in ten
thousand forms.
Again, what divine pleasure is it to hear a God be-
ginning the work of his providence, and speaking those
wondrous words of power to every plant and animal, be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and lo, in
a long succession of near six thousand years the earth
has been covered all over with herbs and plants, with
shrubs and tall trees in all their beauty and dimensions.
The air hath been filled with birds and insects, the seas
and rivers with fish, and the dry land with beasts and
men even to this present day. When all this philosophy
is changed into devotion, it must also be transformed
into divine and unutterable joy.
316 THE FIRST FilUlTS OF THE SPIRIT;
Nor are these things too low and mean for the con-
templation of heavenly beings. For God is seen in all
of them. There is not a spear of grass but the power
and wisdom of a God are visible therein. And it ie
certain the heavenly beings must be sometimes employ-
ed in tlie contemplation of many of these lower wonders.
The plants and beasts in desolate regions where no man
inhabits, and in distant and foreign oceans and rivers,
where the fishy shoals in all their variety and numbers,
in all their successions and generations for near six
thousand years were never seen nor known by any of
the sons of men ; these seem to have been created in
vain, if no heavenly beings are acquainted with them,
nor raise a revenue of glory to him that made them.
This Mmiglity power therefore which made this huge
universe, which sustains the frame of it every moment,
and secures it from dissolving ; this power which brings
forth the stars in their order, and worms a,nd creeping
things in their innumerable millions, and governs all
the motions of them to the purposes of divine glory,
must needs affect a contemplative soul with raptures of
pleasing meditation ; and in these sublime meditations,
by the aids of the divine Spirit, a soul on earth may get
near to heaven. And with what religious and unknown
pleasure at such a season doth it shrink its own being
as it were into an atom, and lie in the dust and adore !
4. The all-sufficiency of the great God to form and to
supply every creature with all that it can want or desire,
is another perfection of the divine nature, whicli is bet-
ter known in heaven than it ever was here on earth, and
affords another scene of astonishment and sacred delight.
And there may be some advances towards this pleasure
found among saints below, some first fruits of this heav-
enly felicity and joy in the all-sufficiency of God.
My whole self, body and mind, is from God and
from him alone. All my limbs and powers of flesh and
OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 317
spirit were derived from him, and borrowed their first
existence from tlieir original .pattern in his fruitful mind.
All that I have of lite or comfort, of breath or being,
with all my blessings round about me, is owing to his
boundless and eternal fullness ; and all my long reach-
ing hopes and endless expectations that stretch far into
futurity, and an eternal world, are growing out of this
same all-sufficient fullness.
But what do I think or speak of so little a trifle as I
am ? Stretch thy thoughts, O my soul, through the
lengths and breadths, and depth of his creation, O what
an unconceivable fulness of being, glory, and excellency
is found in God the universal parent and spring of all !
What an inexhaustible ocean of being and life, or per-
fection and blessedness must our God be, who supplies
all the iniinite armies of his creatures in all his known,
and unknown dominions with life and motion, with
breath and activity, with food and support, with satisfac-
tion and delight ! Who maintains the vital powers and
faculties of all the spirits which he hath made in all the
visible and invisible worlds, in all his territories of
light, and peace, and joy, and in all the regions of dark-
ness, punishment and misery! In him all things live,
and move, and have tlieir beings ; Acts xvii. 28. Psalms
civ. 29 ; He withdraws his breath and they die. He
hath writ down all their names in his own mind, he gives
them all their natures, and without him there is nothing,
there can be nothing ; all nature without him would have
been a perpetual blank, an universal emptiness, an ever-
lasting void, and with one turn of his will he could sink
and dissolve all nature into its original nothing.
Confess, O my soul, thy own nothingness in his pres-
ence, and with astonishing pleasure and worship adore
his fulness. He is thy everlasting all. Be thy depend-
ance ever fixed upon him ; thou canst not, thou shalt not
live a moment without him, without ids habitual depend-
318 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT;
aiice, and a frequent delightful acknowledgement of it.
Such a devout frame as this, is heaven, and such scenes
now and then passing tlirough the soul, are glimpses
of the heavenly blessedness.
SECTION III.
Though the eternity and bnmensitij of God might
perhaps, in their own nature, and in the reason of things,
be first mentioned, yet his majesty, his power, and liis
wisdom, in their sovereign excellency strike the souls of
creatures more immediately, therefore I have put these
first. However, let us now consider the eternity of the
gl'eat God and his omnipresence, and tijink how the
spirits in heaven are affected therewith, and what kin-
dred meditations may be derived from these perfections
by the saints here on earth. I proceed therefore,
5. To the eternity of God, which, though the most
exalted spirit in heaven cannot comprehend, yet it is
probable they have some nearer and clearer discovery
of it than we can have here in this mortal state, while
we dwell in flesh and blood. We have nothing in this
risible world that gives us so much as an example or
similitude of it. The great God ivho is, ivho was, and
who is to come through all ages, he is, and was, and for
ever icill be the same. Let us go back as many thou-
sand ages as we can in our thoughts, and still an eternal
God was before them ; a Being that had no beginning
of his existence, nor will have any end of his life or du-
ration. And as he says to Moses, my name is I am
THAT I AM, so as there is nothing which had any hand
in his being, but all the reasons of it are derived from
his own self-fulness, therefore we may say of him that
he is because he is, and because he will be. He had no
spring of his first beginning, nor any cause of his con-
tinued existence, but what is within himself. We can
OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN, 319
never set ourselves in too mean a light, when an eternal
God is near us ; and every thing besides God can be but
little in our eyes.
And, O my thinking powers, are ye not sweetly lost
in this holy rapture, and overpowered with divine pleas-
ure, O my soul, in such a medtiation as this ? Art thou
not delightfully surprised ^vith the thoughts of such self-
sufficience and such an inconceivable perfection ? Thy
being considered as here in this life, is not so much in
the sight of God, as an atom in comparison of the whole
earth ; and even the supposed future ages of thy existence
in the eternal state, are inconceivably short, when com-
pared with the glory of that Being that never began his
life or his duration.
Many things here on earth concur towards my satis-
faction and peace ; but if I have God my friend, I have
all in him that I can possibly want or desire. Let me.
then live no longer upon creatures when God is all.
Let sun, moon, and stars vanish, and all this visible
creation disappear and be for ever annihilated if God
please, he himself is still my eternal hope and never-
failing spring of all my blessedness. My expectations
are continually safe in liis hands, and shall never fail
while I am so near to him. This is joy unspeakable
and akin to glory.
6. Let us meditate also on the immensity of God,
which I think is much better expressed by his omni-
presence. God is wheresoever any creature is or can
be ; knowing immediately by his own presence all that
belongs to them, all that they are or can be, all that they
do or can do, all that concerns tliem, whetlier their sins
or their virtues, their pains or their pleasures, their
hopes or their fears. It implies also that he doth by his
immediate power and influence, support and govern all
the creatures. In short, this immensity is nothing else
but the infinite extent of his knowledge and iiis power ;
320 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ;
and it reaches to and beyond all places, as eternity
reaches to and beyond all times. This the blessed
above know and rejoice in, and take infinite satisfaction
therein. Having God, as it were, surrounding them on
all sides, so that they cannot be where he is not, he is
ever present with liis all-sufficiency, ready to bestow on
them all they wish or desire, while he continues their
God ; that is, for ever and ever. They are under the
blessing of his eye, and the care of his hand, to guard
them from every evil, and to secure their ])eace.
Let thy flesh or spirit be surrounded with ever so
many thousand dangers or enemies, they cannot do thee
the least damage without his leave, by force or by sur
prise, while sucli an Almighty Being is all around thee.
Nor hast thou reason to indulge any fear while the
spring and ocean of all life, activity, and blessedness,
thus secures thee on every side. If thou hast the evi-
dences of his children on thee, thou possessest an eter-
nal security of thy peace.
7. The sovereignty and dominion of the blessed God
is a further meditation and pleasure which becomes and
adorns the inhabitants of the heavenly world. There
he reigns upon the throne of his glory ; and the greater
part of the territories whicli are subject to him, are less
in their view than our scanty powers of nature or per-
ception can now apprehend ; and a proportionable de-
gree of pleasure is found with the saints above in these
contemplations.
But in our present state of mortality, our souls can
only look through these lattices of flesh and blood, and
make a few scanty and imperfect inferences from what
they always see, and hear, and feel. And yet the glo-
rious sovereignty and dominion of the blessed God may
so penetrate the soul with a divine sense of it here on
earth, as to raise up a heaven of wonder and joy
within.
r
OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. S2i
Adore him, O my soul, who surveys and rules all
things which he has made with an absolute authority,
and is for ever uncontrolable. How righteous a thing is
it that he should give laws to all the beings which his
hand hath formed, which his breath hath spoken into
life, and especially that rank which his favor hath fur-
nished with immortality? How just that he should be
obeyed by every creature without the least reluctance or
reserve, without a moment's delay, and that to all the
length of tlieir existence ?
Submit to his government with pleasure, O my nature,
and be all ye my powers of soul and body, in everlast-
ing readiness to do whatsoever he requires, and to be
whatsoever he appoints. Wilt thou have me, O Lord,
lie under sickness or pain, wilt thou have me languish
under weakness and confinement ? I am at thy foot, I
am for ever at thy disposal. Wilt thou have me active
and vigorous in thy service ? Lord, I am ready with
utmost cheerfulness. Wilt thou confine me to painful
idleness and long patience ? Lord, here I am ; do with
me what seemeth good unto thee ; I am ready to serve
thy purposes here, or thy orders in the unknown world
of spirits, when thou shalt dissolve this mortal frame.
I lay down these limbs in the dust of death at thy com-
mand. I venture into the regions of angels and unbod-
ied minds at thy summons. I will be what thou wilt, I
will go when thou wilt, I will dwell where thou wilt,
for thou art always with me, and I am entirely thine.
I both rejoice and tremble at thy sovereignty and domin-
ion over all. God cannot do injury to any creature who
is so entirely his own property ; God will not deal un-
kindly with a creature who is so sensible of his just
dominion and supremacy, and which bows at the foot of
his sovereignty with so much relish of satisfaction.
8. Let us next take notice of the j^crfect purity of the
nature of God, liis universal holiness, the rectitude of
41
S22 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ;
the divine nature manifested in all his tlioaghts, his
works, and his words, all perfectly agreeable to the
eternal rules of truth and righteousness, and at the fur-
thest distance Trom every thing that is false and faulty,
every thing that is or can be dishonorable to so glorious
a. Being. Have we never seen Grod in this light, in the
glory of his holiness, his universal rectitude, and the
everlasting harmony of all his perfections, in exact cor-
respondence with all the notions we can have of truth
and reason ? And has not God appeared then as a glo-
rious and lovely Being? And have we not at the same
time beheld ourselves as unclean and unholy creatures ;
in one part or other of our natures, ever ready to jar or
fall out with some of the most pure and perfect rules of
holiness, justice or truth ? Have we not seen all our
sins and iniquities in this light, with utmost abhorrence
and highest hatred of them, and looked down upon our-
selves with a deep and overwhelming sense of shame
and displacence against our depraved a,od corrupted na-
tures, and abased ourselves as Job does, in diist and
ashes, and not daring to open our mouths before him ?
Job. xiii. 6 ; 1 have heard of thee by the hearins; of the
ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, ayid I abhor myself iyi
dust and ashes. The least spot or blemish of sin grows
highly offensive and painful to the eyes of a saint in this
situation.
Every little warping from truth in our conversation,
every degree of insincerity or fraud becomes a smarting
uneasiness to the mind in the remembrance of oiu* past
follies in the present state. There is the highest abhor-
rence of sin among all the heavenly inhabitants ; and
this sight of God in the beauties of his holiness, and his
perfect rectitude, is an everlasting preservative to holy
souls against the admission of an impure or uniioly
thought. And therefore some divines have supposed,
that the angels at their first creation were put into a state
OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 3S8
of trial before they were admitted to this full sight of the
beauty of God in his holiness, which would have secured
them from the least thought or step towards apostacy.
O my soul, of what happy importance is it to thee to
maintain as long as possible, this sense of the purity^
rectitude and perfection of the nature of the blessed
God, wlio is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, with
the least regard of approbation or allowance? And
what infinite condescension is it in such a God to find
out and appoint a way of grace, whereby such shameful,
polluted creatures as we are, should ever be admitted
into his presence to make the least address to his majesty,
or to hope for his favor ?
Besides, in this sublime view of the holiness of God,
we shall not only love God better than ever, as we see
him more amiable under this view of his glorious attri-
butes, but we shall grow more sincere and fervent in our
love to all that is holy, to every fellow-christian, to every
saint in heaven and on earth. We shall not bear any
fstrangedness or alienation from those who have so
much of the likeness of God in them. They will ever
appear to be the excellent of the earth, in whom is all
our delight. Their supposed blemishes will vanish at
the thought of their likeness to God in holiness. And
especially our blessed Lord Jesus, the Son of God, will
be most precious and all-glorious in our eyes, as he is
the most perfect image of his Father's holiness. There
is nothing in the blessed God, but the man Christ Jesus
bears a proportionable resemblance to it, as far as a crea-
ture can resemble God, and he will consequently be
Jiighest in our esteem, under God the Lord and Father
of all.
9. The ever pleasing attribute of divine goodness and
love, is another endless and joyful theme or object of
the contemplation of the heavenly world. There this
perfection shines in its brightest rays ; there it display^t
S^ THE URST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ;
its most triumphant glories, and kindles a flame of ever-
lasting joy in all the sons of blessedness.
But we in this world may have such glimpses of this
goodness and love., as may fill tlie soul with unspeakable
pleasure, and begin in it the first fruits and earnest of
heaven. When we survey the inexhaustible ocean of
goodness which is in God, which fills and supplies all
the creatures with every thing they stand in need of ;
when we behold all the tribes of the sons of men sup-
ported by his boundless sufficiency, his bounty and kind
providence, and refreshed with a thousand comforts be-
yond what the mere necessities of nature require ; in
such an hour if we feel the least flowings of goodness in
ourselves towards others, we shall humble ourselves to
the dust, and cry out in lioly amazement. Lord, what is
an atom to a mountain ? What is a drop to a river, a
sea of benificence ? Wkat is a shadow to the eternal
substance ? What good thing is there in time or in eter-
nity, which I can possibly want which is not abundantly
i^pplied out of thine overflowing fulness ? Hence arises
the eternal satisfaction of all the lioly and happy creation
in being so near to thee, and under the everlasting as-
surances of thy love. I can do nothing but fall down
before thee in deepest humility, and admire, adore, and
everlastingly love thee, who hast assumed to thyself the
name of love; 1 John iv. 8 ; God is love.
SECTION IV.
Thus far our joys may rise into aii imitation of the
ioys above, in the devout contemplation of divine per-
Hions.
nd not only the jjerfectioyis of God considered and
'^d single in themselves, but the union and blessed
of many of them in the divine works and trans-
providence and of grace, especially in the gos-
OR, THE FORETASTE OP HEAVEN. 325
pel of Christ, administer further matter for contemplation
and pleasure among the happy spirits in heaven. And
so far as this enjoyment may be communicated to the
saints here on earth, they may be also said to have a
foretaste of the business and pleasure of heaven. Let
us take notice of this harmony in several instances.
1. In the sacred constitution of the person of our Lord
Jesus Christ, as God and man united in one personal
agent. Here majesty and mercy give a glorious instance
oT their union ; here all the grantleur and dignity of
Godhead condescends to join itself in union with a crea-
ture, such as man is, a spirit dwelling in iiesh and blood.
1 Tim. ii. 5 ; There is one God, and one Mediator be-
tween God and man, even the mq^n Christ Jesus. But
this man is personally united to the blessed God ; he is
God manifested in the jlesh. He is a man in ivhom
dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, to constitute
one all-suiiicient Saviour of miserable and fallen man-
kind. What an amazing stoop or condescension is this
for the eternal Godhead thus to join itself to a creature,
and what a siu-prising exaltation is this of the creature
for the man Christ Jesus thus to be assumed into so near
a relation to the blessed God ? All the glories that re-
sult from this divine contrivance and transaction, are not
to be enumerated on paper, nor by the best capacity
of writers here on earth. The heavenly inhabitants are
much better acquainted with them.
Again. Here is an example of the harmony and co-
operation of unsearchable wisdom and all- commanding
power, in the person of the blessed Jesus ; and what a
happy design is hereby executed, namely, the reconcil-
iation of sinful man and the holy and glorious God.
And who could do this but one who was possessed of
such wisdom and such power ? When there was no
creature in heaven or earth sufficient for this work, God
was pleased to appoint such au union between a creature
3S6 THfi FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT;
and Creator, between God and man, as might answer all
the inconceivable purposes concealed in his thought. If
there be wanting a person fit to execute any of his infinite
designs, lie will not be frustrated for want of an agent ;
he will appoint God and man to be so nearly united as
to become one agent to execute this design.
3. In the manner of our salvation, viz. by an atone-
ment for sin. The great God did not think it proper,
nor agreeable to his sublime holiness, to receive sinful
man into his favor without an atonement for sin, and a
satisfaction made to the Governor of the world for the
abuse and violation of his holy law here on earth ; and
therefore he appointed such a sacrifice of atonement as
might be sufficient to do complete honor to the law-giver,
as well as to save and deliver the offender from death.
Therefore Jesus was made a man capable of suffering
and dying, that he might honor the majesty and the jus-
tice of the broken law of God, and that he might do it
completely by the union of Godhead to this man and
Mediator ; the dignity of whose divinity diffuses itself
over all that he did and all that he suffered, so as to
make his obedience completely acceptable to God instead
of thousands of creatures, and fully satisfactory for the
offence that was given him by them ; here is a sacrifice
provided equal to the guilt of sin, and therefore sufficient
to take it away.
You see here what a blessed harmony there is between
the justice of God doing honor to his own law, and his
compassion resolved to save a ruined creature. Here is
no blemish cast upon the strict justice and righteousness
of God, when the offender is forgiven in such a method
as may do honor to justice and mercy at once. Rom. iii.
24, 25 ; We are justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Jesus Christ ; whom God hath set
forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare Ms righteousness^ even his perfect governing
OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVfiN. 327
justice^ though he passes by and pardons tlie sins of a
thousand criminal creatures. To declare, I say, at this
time his righteousness, that he might appear to be just to
his own authority and law, while he justifies the sinful
man who believeth or trusteth in Jesus the Mediator, as
becoming a proper sacrifice and propitiation for sin.
3. By the sa7ictiflcation of our' nature. There is also
another remarkable harmony between the holiness of
God, and his mercy in this work of the salvation of sin-
ful man. The guilt of sin is not only to be forgiven and
taken away by a complete atonement and sacrifice, but
the sin fid nature of this ruined creature is to be changed
into holiness, is to be renewed and sanctified by the
blessed Spirit, and reformed into the image of God his
Maker. He must not only be released from punishment
by forgiveness, but he must be restored to the image of
God by sanctifying grace ; that so he may be fit company
for the rest of the favorites of God in the upper world ;
that he may be qualified to be admitted into this society,
where peifect purity and holiness are necessary for all
tlie inhabitants of this upper world, and for such near
attendants on the blessed God. In that happy state
nothing shall enter there that defileth ; Rev. xxi. 27 ;
and therefore concerning the criminals amongst the
Corinthians, as vile and as offensive to the pure an holy
God as they are represented, 1 Cor. vi. 9 — 11 ; viz. For-
nicators, idolaters, adulterers, drunkards, 8^c. but it is
said, they are washed, hut they are sanctified, but they
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the
Spirit of our God.
Now when the souls of the saints here on earth are
raised to such divine contemplations, what transporting
satisfaction and delight must arise from the surprising
union and harmony of the attributes of the bles; >ed God
in these his transactions ? And especially when ithe soul
in the lively exercise of grace and view of its ovjxi par-
SS8 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ;
don, justification^ and restored holiness, looks upon itself
as one of these happy favorites of the majesty of heaven.
It cries out as it w^ere in holy amazement, what a divine
profusion is here of wisdom and power, glory and grace,
to save a wretched worm from everlasting burnings, and
to advance a worthless rebel to such undeserved and
exalted glories !
SECTION V.
The wonders of divine jjerfectio7is united in the suc-
cess of the gospeU give an ecstacy of joy sometimes to
holy souls. Not only do these views of the united per-
fections of Grod, as they are concerned in the contrivance
of the gospel, entertain the saints above Avith new and
pleasurable contemplations, but the wonders of divine
wisdom, power and grace, united and harmonizing in the
propai^'ation and success of this gospel, become a matter
of delightful attention and survey to the saints on high.
This is imitated also in a measure by the children of
God here on earth. Have you never felt such a surpris-
ing pleasure in the view of the attributes of God, his
grace, wisdom, and power, in making these divine de-
signs so happily efficacious for the good of thousands of
souls ? If there be joy in heaven amon^ the angels of
God, at the conversion of a sinner, what perpetual mes-
>>ages of unknown satisfaction and delight did the daily
and constant labors of the blessed apostle Paul send to
the upper w orld ? What perpetual tidings were carried
to the worlds on high of such an:l such souls, converted
unto Gof'i from gross idolatry, from the worship of dumb
idols, from the vain superstition of their heroes and me-
diator-g ods, and from the impure and bloody sacrifices of
their ov tn countrymen, whereby they intended to satisfy
their g( jds for their own iniquities, and to reconcile them-
selves to these invented gods, these dsemons or devils
OR, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 3S9
which were deified by the folly and madness of sin-
ful men ? What new hallelujahs must it put into the
mouths of the saints and angels on high, to see the true
and living God worshipped by thousands that had never
before known him, and to see Jesus the Mediator in all
the glories of his divine offices admired and adored by
those who lately had either known nothing of him, or
been shameful revilers and blasphemers of his majesty.
And what an unknown delight is diffused through
many of the saints of God now here on earth upon such
tidings, not only from the foreign and heathen countries,
but even some that have professed Christianity, but un-
der gross mistakes and miserable fogs of darkness and
superstition ? What an inconceivable and overwhelm-
ing pleasure has surprised a christian sometimes in the
midst of his zealous worship of God and his Saviour,
to hear of such tidings of new subjects in multitudes
submitting themselves to their divine dominion?
And even in our day, whensoever we hear of the work
of grace begun by the ministry of the word awakening a
drowsy and lethargic soul from its dangerous sleep on
the brink of hell, rousing a negligent and slothful crea-
ture from his indolence and carelessness about the
things of eternity ; or again, in making a heart soft and
impi'essive to the powers of divine grace, which was be-
fore hard as the nether millstone ; and especially when
multitudes of these tidings come together from distant
places, as of late we have heard from J^ew- England^
and several of those plantations, from Scotland and
several of her assemblies, what additional scenes of
heavenly joy and pleasure have been raised amongst
the pious souls, both those who relate and those who
hear them.
42
330 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT;
SECTION VI.
Fortastes of heaven are sometimes derived from the
overflowing sense of the love of God let in upon the soul.
The spirits above who are surrounded with this bles-
sedness and this love, and rejoice in the everlasting as-
surance of it, cannot but be filled with intense joy.
What can be a greater foundation of complete blessed-
ness and delight than the immediate sensation and as-
surance of being beloved by the glorious, and supreme,
and the all-sufficient Being, who will never suffer his
favorites to want any thing he can bestow upon them to
make them happy in perfection, and for ever? All
creatures are under his present vfew and immediate
command ; there is not the least of them can give dis-
turbance to any of the favorites of heaven, who dwell in
the midst of their Creator's love ; nor is there any crea-
ture that can be employed towards the complete happi-
ness of the saints on high, but is for ever under the
disposal of that God who has made all things ; and it
shall be employed upon every just occasion for the dis-
play of his love to his saints.
Some have imagined, that that perfect satisfaction of
soul which arises from a good conscience, speaking
peace inwardly in the survey of its sincere desire to
please God in all things, and having with upnghtness of
heart fulfilled its duty, is the supreme delight of heaven.
But it is my opinion God has never made tlie felicity of
his creatures to be drawn so entirely out of themselves,
or from the spring of their own bosom, as this notion
seems to imply. God himself will be all in all to his
creatures ; and all their original springs of blessedness
as well as being are in liim, and must be derived from
him. It is therefore the overflowing sense of being be-
loved by a God almiglity and eternal, that is the su-
preme fountain of joy and blessedness to every reason
0«, THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 331
able nature, and the endless security of this happiness
is joy everlasting in all the regions of the blessed above.
Now a taste of this kind is heavenly blessedness even
on this earth, where God is pleased to bestow it on his^
creatures ; and the glimpses of it bring such ecstacies
into the soul as can hardly be conceived, or revealed to
others, but it is best felt by them who enjoy it.
SECTION VII.
Foretastes of heaven in the fervent emotions of soul
in love to Jesus Christ.
What the love and strong affections of the blessed
saints above towards Jesus Christ their Lord and Sav-
iour may impress of joy in their spirits, is not possible
for us to learn in the present state ; but there are some
who have even here on earth felt sucli transcendant
affections to Jesus the Son of God, even thougli they
have never enjoyed the sight of him, yet tliey love him
with most intense and ardent zeal ; their devotion al-
most swallows them up and carries them away captive
above all earthly things, and brings them near to the
heavenly world. There is an unknown joy which
arises from such intense love to an object so lovely and
so deserving ; such is that which is spoken concerning
the saints to whom St. Peter wrote ; 1 Peter i. 8 ; Whom
having not seen, ye love, in whom though now ye see
him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and
full of glory. It is through this divine taste of love, and
joy, and glory communicated by the blessed Spirit, re-
vealing the things of Christ to their souls, that many of
the confessors snd martyrs in the primitive ages and in
latter times, have not only joyfully parted with all their
possessions and their comforts in this life, but have fol-
lowed the call of God through prisons and deaths of a
most dreadful kind ; through racks, and fires, and many
torments for the sake of the love of Jesus. And perhaps
33S THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT;
there may be some in our day who have so lively and
strong a sensation of the love of Christ let in upon their
souls, that they could not only be content to be absent
from all their carnal delights for ever, but even from
their intellectual and more spiritual entertainments, if
they might be for ever placed in such a situation to Jesus
Christ, as to feel the everlasting beams of his love let
out upon them, and to rejoice in him with perpetual de-
light. As he is the nearest image of God the Father,
they can love nothing beneath God equal to their love
of him, nor delight in any thing beneath God equal to
their delight in Jesus Christ. Indeed their love and
their joy are so wrapped up in the great and blessed
God as he appears in Christ Jesus, that they do not
usually divide their affections in this matter, but love
God supremely for ever, as revealing himself in his most
perfect love in Christ Jesus unto their souls. How near
this may approach to the glorified love of the saints in
lieaven, or what difference there is between the holy
ones above and the saints below in this respect, may be
hard to say.
SECTION VIII.
Foretastes of heaven in the transcendant love of the
saints to each other. I might here ask some advanced
saints.
Have you never seen or heard of a fellow-christian
growing into such a near resemblance to the blessed
Jesus, in all the virtues and graces of the Spirit, that
you would willingly pai*t with all the attainments and
honors that you have already arrived at, which make
you never so eminent in the world or the church, as to
be made so near a conformist to the image of the blessed
Jesus as this fellow-christian has seemed to be ?
Have you never seen or read of the glories and graces
of the Son of God exemplified in some of the saints in
so high a degree, and at the same time been so divested
OR, THE FORETASTE OP HEAVEN. 333
of self, and so mortified to a narrow self-love, as to be
satisfied with the lowest and the meanest supports of
life, and the meanest station in the church of Christ here
on earth, if you might but be favored to partake of that
transcendant likeness to the holy Jesus, as you would
fain imitate and possess ?
Have you never had a view of all the virtues and
graces of the saints, derived from one eternal fountain, the
blessed God, and flowing through the mediation of
Jesus his Son, in so glorious a manner, that you have
longed for the day when you shall be amongst them,
and receive your share of this blessedness ? Have you
never found yourself so united to tliem in one heart and
one soul, that you have wished them all the same bless-
ings that you wished to yourself, and that without
the least shadow of grudging or envy, if every one of
them were partaker as much as you ? There is no envy
among the heavenly inhabitants ; nor doth St. Paul re-
ceive the less because Cephas or Apollos has a large
share. Every vessel has its capacity enlarged to a
proper extent by the God of nature and grace, and every
vessel is completely filled, and feels itself for ever full
and for ever happy. Then there cannot be found the
shadow of envy amongst them.
Now to sum up the view of these things in short,
who is there that enjoys these blessed evidences of an.
interest in the inheritance on high ; who is there that has
any such foretastes of the felicity above, but must join
with the whole creation in groaning for that great day,
when all the children of God shall appear in the splen-
dor of their adoption, and every thing in nature and
grace among them shall attain the proper end for which
it was at first designed ? And whensoever any such
christian hears some of the last words in the Bible pro-
nounced by our Lord Jesus, Surely I come quickly, he
must immediately join the universal echo of the saints "
with unspeakable delight, even so come, 0 Lord Jesus.
DISCOURSE XL
SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, AND JOY AT
THE RESURRECTION.
JOB xiv. 13, i% 1&.
0 that thou ivouldst hide me in the grave, that thou
wouldst keep me in secret until thy wrath be past, that
thou wouldst appoint me a set time and remember me !
If a man die shall he live a "^ain ? All the days of my
appointed time will I wait till my change come. Thou
shalt call and I will answer thee. Thou wilt have a
desire to the work of thy hands,
BEFORE we attempt to make any improvement
of these words of Job for our present edification, it is
necessary that we search out the true meaning of them.
There are two general senses of these three verses,
which are given by some of the most considerable inter-
preters of scripture, and they are exceeding different
from each other.
The first is this. Some suppose Job under the ex-
tremity of his anguish to long after death here, as he
does in some other parts of this book, and to desire that
God would cut him off from the land of the living, and
hide him in the grave, or, at least, take him away from
the present stage of action, and conceal him in some
retired and solitary place, dark as the grave is, till all
the days which might be designed for his pain and sor-
row were finished : and that God would appoint him
a time for his restoration to health and happiness again
in this world, and raise him to the possession of it, by
calling him out of that dark and solitary place of retreat ;
SAFETY IN THE GRAVE, &c. 335
and then Job would answer him, and appear with
pleasure at such a call of providence.
Others give this sense of the words, that though the
pressing and overwhelming sorrows of this good man
constrained him to long for death, and he entreated of
God that he might be sent to the grave as a hiding place,
and thus be delivered from liis present calamities, yet he
had some divine glimpse of a resurrection or living
again, and he hopes for the happiness of a future state
when God should call him out of the grave. He knew
that the blessed God would have a desire to restore the
work of his own hands to life again, and Job would an-
swer the call of his God into a resurrection witli holy
pleasure and joy.
Now there are four or five reasons which incline me
to prefer this latter sense of the words, and to sliew that
the comforts and hope which Job aspires to in this j^lace,
are only to be derived from a resurrection to final hap-
piness.
1. The express words of the text are, (J that thou
imuldst hide me in the grave ! Not in a darksome place
like the grave ; and where tlie literal sense of the words
is plain and agreeable to the context, there is no need of
making metaphors to explain them. There is nothing
that can encourage us to suppose that Job had any hope
of happiness in this world again, after he was gone down
to the grave, and therefore he would not make so unrea-
sonable a petition to the great God. This seems to be
too foolish and too hopeless a request for us to put into
the mouth of so wise and good a man.
2. He seems to limit the continuance of man in the
state of death to the duration of the heavens, verse ISth
man lieth down and riseth not till the heavens be no more.
Not absolutely /or ever does Job desire to be hidden in
the grave, but till the dissolution of all these visible
things, these heavens and this earth, and the great rising
336 SAFETY IN THE GRWE,
day for the sons of men. These words seem to have a
plain aspect towards the resurrection.
And especially when he adds, they shall not be awak-
ened nor raised out of their sleep. The brutes when
dying; are never said to sleep in scripture, because they
shall never rise again ; but this is a frequent word used
to signify the death of man both in the Old Testament
and in the New, because he only lies down in the grave
for a season, as in a bed of sleep, in order to awake and
arise hereafter.
3. In other places of this book, Job gives us some
evident hints of his hope of a resurrection, especially
that divine passage and prophecy, when he spake as one
surrounded with a vision of glory, and filled with the
light and joy of faith. Job xix. 25 ; ^^I know tliat my
Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God ;
whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold,
and not another, though my reins be consumed within
me." But in many parts of this book the good man lets
us know, that he had no manner of hope of any restor-
ation to health and peace in this life. Job vii. Q^'^y^'r,
•^ My days are spent without hope : mine eye shall no
more see good : the eye of him that hath seen me shall
see me no more : thine eyes are upon me, and I am not."
Verse 21 ; " Now shall I sleep in the dust ; thou shalt
seek me in the morning, and I shall not be." Job xvii.
15 ; Where is now my hope ? As for my hope, who
shall see it ?" He and his hope seemed " to go down
to the bars of the pit together, and to rest in the dust."
And if Job had no hope of a restoration in this world,
then his hopes must point to the resurrection of the dead.
4. If we turn these verses here, as well as that noble
passage in Job xix. to the more evangelical sense of a
resurrection, the truths which are contained in the one
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 337
and the other, are all supported by the language of the
New Testament. And the express words of both these
texts are much more naturally and easily applied to the
evangelical sense, without any strain and difficulty.
The expressions in the nineteenth of Job, I know that
my Redeemer livetJi^ &c. have been rescued by many
wise interpreters from tliat poor and low sense wliich
has been forced upon them, by those who will not allow
Job to have any prospect beyond this life. And it has
been made to appear to be a bright glimpse of divine
light and joy, a ray or vision of the Sun of righteousness
breaking in between the dark clouds of his pressing sor-
row. And that the words of my text demand the same
sort of interpretation, will appear further by these short
remarks, and this paraphrase upon them.
Job had been speaking, verse Y^ &c. that there is hove
of a tree when it is cut down, that it will sprout again
visibly, and bring forth boughs ; but when min gives up
the ghost he is no more visible upon earth. Where
is he P Job does not deny his future existence, but only
intimates that he does not appear in the place where he
was ; and in the following verses he does not say, a dying
man shall never rise, or shall never he awakened out of
his sleep, but asserts that he rises not till the dissolution
of these heavens and these visible things. And by call-
ing death a sleep, he supposes an awaking time, though
it may be distant and far off.
Then he proceeds to long for death — 0 that thou
wouldst hide me in the grave ! that thou wouldst keep
me secret till thy wrath be past f Till these times and
seasons of sorrow be ended, which seems to be the effect
of divine wrath or anger. But then 1 entreat thou
wouldst appoint me a set time for my tarrying in the
grave, and remember me in order to raise me again.
Then with a sort of surprise of faith and pleasure, he
adds, if a man die shall he live again P Shall these dry
43
338 SAFETY IN THE GKWE,
bones live ? And he answers in the language of hope —
Ml the days of that appointed time of thine / icill icait
till that glorious change shall come. Thou shalt call
from heaven, art £? I will answer thee from the dust of
death. I will appear at thy call and say, here am I.
Thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands, to raise
me again from the dead, whom thou liast made of clay,
and fashioned me into life.
From the words thus expounded, we may draw these
several observations, and make a short reflection upon
each of them, as we pass along.
'Observation I. This world is a place wherein good
men are exposed to great calamities, and they are ready
to think the anger or wrath of God appears in them.
Observation II. The grave is God's known hiding
place for his people.
Observation III. God has appointed a set time in his
own counsels for all his children to continue in death.
Observation IV. The lively view of a happy resur-
rection, and a well grounded hope of this blessed change,
is a solid and divine comfort to tlie saints of God, under
all trials of every kind, both in life and death.
Observation V. Tlie saints of God who are resting in
their beds of dust, will arise joyfully at the call of tiich-
heavenly Father.
Observation YI. God takes delight in liis works of
nature, ])ut iiiiich more when tliev are di2:nificd and
adorned by the operations of divine grace.
Observation VII. How much are we indebted to Goil
for the revelation of the New Testament, whicli teaches
us to find out the blessings which arc contained in the.
Old, and to fetch out tlie glories and treasures Avhich are
concealed there ?
Let us dwell a while upon each of these, and endeavor
to improve them by a particular a])plication.
Observation I. This world is a iiluce wherehi good
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 339
men are exposed to great calamities ; and they are ready
to tJiink the anger or wrath of God appears in them.
This mortal life and this present state of things, as sur-
rounded with crosses and disappointments ; the loss of
our dearest friends, as well as our own pains anxl sick-
nesses, have so much anguish and misery attending them,
that tliey seem to be the seasons of divine wrath, and
they grieve and pain the spirit of many a pious man, un-
der a sense of the anger of his God. It must be con-
fessed in general, that misery is the effect of sin, for sin
and sorrow came into tlie w orld together. It is granted
also, tlitit God sometimes affiicts his people in anger,
and corrects them in his hot displeasure, when tliey
have sinned against him in a remarkable manner. But
this is not always the case.
The great God was not really angry with Job when
he suffered him to fall into such complicated distresses ;
for it is plain, that while he delivered liim up into the
hands of Satan to be afflicted, he vindicates and honors
him with a divine testimony concerning his piety. Job i.8.
There is none like him in the earth, a perfict and an
upright man, one that feareth God and avoideth evil.
Nor was he angry witli his Son Jesus Christ, when it
pleased the Father to hridse him, and put him to grief,
w^hen be made his soul an offering for sin ; and he was
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted ; Isai. liii. To
these we may add Paul, tl)e best of the apostles, and the
greatest of christians, who was abundant in labors antl
sufferings beyond all the rest. See a dismal catalogue
of his calamities, 2 Cor. xi. 23, &c. What variety of
wretchedness, what terrible persecutions from men, what
repeated strokes of distress came upon him by the prov-
idence of God, which appeared like the effects of divine
wrath or anger? But they were plainly designed for
more divine and blessed purposes, both with regard to
340 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,
God, with regard to himself, and to all the succeeding
ages of the christian church.
God does not always smite his own people to jninish
sin and shew liis anger ; but these sufferings are often
appointed for the trial of their christian virtues and
graces^ for the exercise of their humility and their pa-
tience, for the proof of their steadfastness in religion, for
the honor of the grace of God in them, and for tlie
increase of their own future weight of glory. Blessed is
the man that endures temptation ; for when he is tried,
he shall receive the crown of life ichich the Lord hath
promised to them that love him ; James i. 12. The
devil shall cast some of you into irrison^ that you may he
triedf and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou
faithfal unto death, and 1 will give thee a crown of life ;
Rev. ii. 10. Our light ajflictions which are but for a
moment, are working for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory ; 3 Cor. iv. 17-
However, upon the whole, this world is a very trou-
blesome and painful place to the children of God. They
are subject here to many weaknesses and sins, tempt-
ations and follies ; they are in danger of new deiilements ;
they go through many threatening perils, and many real
sorrows, whicli either are the effects of the displeasure
of God, or, at least, carry an appearance of divine anger
in them. But there is a time when the«e shall be fin-
ished, and sorrow shall have its last period. There is
a time when these calamities will be overpast, and shall
return no more for ever.
Reflection. AYhy then, O my soul, why shouldst thou
be so fen 1 of dwelling in this present world ? Why
shouldst thou be desirous of a long continuance in it?
Hast thou never found sorrows and afflictions enough
among the scenes of life, to make thee weary of them ?
And when sorrow and sin have joined together, have
they not grievously embittered this life unto thee ? Wilt
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 84i
thou never be weaned from these sensible scenes of flesh
and blood ? Hast thou such a love to the darknesses, the
defilements, and the uneasinesses, which are found in
such a prison as this is, as to make thee unwilling to de-
part when God shall call ? Hast thou dwelt so long in
this tabernacle of clay, and doest thou not groan, being
burdened f Hast thou no desire to a release into that
upper and better world, where sorrows, sins and tempt-
ations, have no place, and where there shall never be the
least appearance or suspicion of the displeasure of thy
God towards thee ?
Observ. II. TJie grave is God^s known hiding place
for his people. It is his appointed shelter and retreat
for his favorites, when he finds them overpressed either
with present dangers or calamities, or when he foresees
huge calamities and dangers, like storms and billows,
ready to overtake them ; Isai. Ivii. 1 ; The righteous is
taken away from the evil to come. God our heavenly
Father beholds this evil advancing forward through all
the present smiles of nature, and all the peaceful circum-
stances that surround us. He hides his children in the
grave from a thousand sins, and sorrows, and distresses
of this life, which they foresaw not. And even when
they are actually beset behind and before, so that there
seems to be no natural way for their escape, God calls
them aside into the chambers of death, in the same sort
of language as he uses in another case ; Isai. xxvi. 20 ;
Come my people, enter thou info thy chambers^ and shut
thy doors about thee, hide thyself as it were for a little
moment, till the indignation be overpassed.
And yet perhaps it is possible, that this very language
of the Lord in Isaiah, may refer to the grave, as God's
hiding place, for the verse before promises a resurrection.
Thy dead men shall live ; together with my dead body
shall they arise. Awake and sing ye that dwell in the
iust^for thy dew- is as the dew of herbs, and the earth
343 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,
shall cast out the dead. And if we may suppose this
last verse to have been transposed by any ancient trans-
cribers, so as to liave followed originally verse SO or 21.
it is very natural then to interpret the whole paragraph
concerning death, as God's hiding place for his people,
and their rising again through the virtue of the resurrec-
tion of Christ, as their joyful release.
Many a time God is pleased to shorten the labors, and
travels, and fatigues of good men in this wilderness ;
and he opens a door of rest to them where he pleases,
and perhaps surprises them into a state of safety and
peace, where the icearif are at rest, and the wicked cease
from troubling ; and holy Job seems to desire tliis favor
from his Maker here.
Sometimes indeed, in the history of tliis book, he
seems to break out into tiiese desires in too rude and
angry a manner of expression ; and in a fit of criminal
impatience, he murmurs against God for upholding him
in the land of the living. But at other times, as in his
text, he represents his desires with more decency and
submission. Every desire to die is not to be construed
sinful and criminal. Nature may ask of God a relief
from its agonies, and a period to its sorrows ; nor does
grace utterly forbid it, if tliere be also an Immble sub-
mission and resignation to the will of God, such as we
find exemplified by our blessed Saviour ; Father, if it be
thy will, let this cup pass from me ; yet not as I will,
but as thou wilt.
On this second observation, I desire to make thesa
three reflections.
Reflection 1. Though a good man knows that death
was originally appointed as a curse for sin, yet his faith
can trust God to turn tiiat curse into a blessing : he can
humbly ask his Maker to release him from the painful
bonds of life, to hasten (he slow approaclies of death, and
to hide liim in tlic grave from some overwhelming sor-
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 343
VOWS. This is the glory of God in his covenant of grace
with the chiklren of men, that lie turns curses intQ
blessings ; Deut. xxiii. 5. And the grave, which was
designed as a prison for sinners, is become a place of
shelter to the saints, where they are hidden and secured
from rising sorrows and calamities. It is God's known
hiding place for his ov/n children from the envy and rage
of men ; from all the known and unknown agonies of
nature, the diseases of the flesh, and the distresses of
human life, whicli perhaps might be overbearing and
intolerable.
Why, O my fearful soul, why shouldst thou be afraid
of dying? Why shouldst thou be frighted at the dark
shadows of tlie grave, w hen thou art weary with the toils
aud crosses of the day ? Hast thou not often desired the
shadow of the evening, and longed for the bed of natural
sleep, where thy fatigues and thy sorrow^ may be for-
gotten for a season ? And is not the grave itself a sweet
sleeping place for the saints, wherein they lie down and
forget their distresses, and feel none of the miseries of
human life, and especially since it is softened and sanc-
tified by the Son of God lying down there ? Why
shouldst thou be afraid to lay thy head in the dust? It
is but entering into God's hiding place , into his chambers
of rest and repose. It is hut committing thy flesh, the
meaner part of thy composition, to his care in the dark
for a short season. He will hide thee there, and keep
thee in safety from the dreadful trials which perhaps
would overwhelm thy spirit. Sometimes in the course
of his providence he may find it necessary that some
spreading calamity should overtake the place wliere thou
dwellest, or some distressing stroke fall upon thy family,
or thy friends ; but he will hide tliee under ground be-
fore it comes, and thus disappoint all thy fears, and lay
every perplexing thought into rest and silence.
Reflection S. Let it be ever remembered, that the
1
344 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,
grave is God's hiding place and not our own. We are
to venture into it without terror when he calls us ; but
he does not suffer us to break into it our own way with-
out his call. Death and life are in the hands of God,
and he never gave the keys of them to mortal men, to let
themselves out of this Avorld when they please, nor to
enter his hiding place without his leave.
Bear up then, O my soul, under all tlie sorrows and
trials of this present state, till God himself shall say, ii
is finished ; till our blessed Jesus, who has the keys put
into his hands, sliall open the door of death, and give
thee an entrance into that dark and peaceful retreat. It
is a safe and silent refuge from the bustle and the noise,
the labors and the troubles of life ; but he .that forces it
open with his own hands, how will he dare to appear
before God in the world of spirits ? What will lie an-
swer, when with a dreadful frown the great God shall
demand of him, friend^ how comest thou in hither f
Who sent for thee, or gave tiiee leave to come ? Such a
wretch must venture upon so rash an action at tlie peril
of the wrath of God, and his own eternal destruction.
Our blessed Jesus, who has all the vast scheme of
divine counsels before his eyes, by having the books of
his Father's degrees put into his hands, he knows how
long it is proper for thee, O christian, to tight and labor,
to wrestle and strive with sins, temptations and difficul-
ties in the present life. He linows best in what moment
to put a period to them, and pronounce thee conqueror.
Fly not from the field of battle for w ant of holy fortitude,
though thy enemies and thy dangers be never so many ;
nor dare to dismiss thyself from thy appointed post, till
the Lord of life pronounce the word of thy dismission.
Sometimes I have been ready to say within myself,
why is my life prolonged in sorrow ? Why are my days
lengthened out to see further wretchedness ? Methinks
the p'ave should, he remlyfor me, and the house appoint-
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 345
edfor all the living. What can I do further for God or
for man here on earth, since my nature pmes away
with painful sickness, my nerves are unstrung, my
spirits dissipated, and my best powers of acting are en-
feebled and almost lost? Peace, peace, 0 thou com-
plaining spirit ! Dost thou know the counsels of the
Almighty, and the secret designs of thy God and thy
Saviour? He has many deep and unknown purposes
in continuing his cliildren amidst heavy sorrows, which
they can never penetrate or learn in this world. Silence
and submission becomes thee at all times. Father^ not
my will hat thy will be done.
And let it be hinted to thee, O my soul, that it is
much more honorable to be weary of this life, because
of the sins and temptations of it, than because of the toils
and sorrows that attend it. If we must groan in this
tabernacle bein^ burdened, let the snares, and the dan-
gers, and the defilements of it be the chief springs of thy
groaning and the warmest motives to request a release.
God loves to see his people more afraid of sin than of
sorrow. If thy corruptions are so strong, and the temp-
tations of life so unhappily surround thee, that thou art
daily crying out, who shall deliver thee from the body of
sin and death, then thou mayest more honoraldy send up
a wish to heaven, O that Iliad the wings of a dove, that
I might fly away and be at rest ! O that God would hide
me in the grave from my prevailing iniquities, and from
the ruffling and disquieting influence of ray own follies
and my daily temptations ! But never be thou quite
weary of doing or suifering the will of thy heavenly
Father, though he should continue thee in this mortal
life a length of years beyond thy desires, and should
withhold thee from his secret place of retreat and rest.
A constant and joyful readiness at the call of God to
depart hence, with a cheerful patience to continue here
daring his pleasure, is the most perfect and blessed tem-
44
346 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,
per that a christian can arrive at. It gives God the
highest glory, and keeps the soul in the sweetest peace.
Reflection 3. This one thought, that the grave is God's
Jiiding place, should compose our spirits to silence, and
abate our mourning for the loss of friends, who have
given sufficient evidence that they are the children of
Grod. Their heavenly Father has seized them from tlie
midst of their trials, dangers and difficulties, and given
them a secure refuge in his own appointed place of rest
and safety. Jesus has opened the door of the grave
with his golden key, and liath let them into a chamber
of repose. He has concealed them in a silent retreat,
where temptation and sin cannot reach them, and where
anguish and misery can never come.
When I have lost therefore a dear and delightful re-
lative or friend, or perhaps many of them in a short
season are called successively dow n to the dust, let me
say thus within myself, " It is their God and my God
has done it. He saw what new temptations were ready
to surround them in the circumstances of life wherein
they stood. He beheld t!ie trials and difficulties that
were ready to encompass them on all sides, and his
love made a way for their escape. He opened the dark
retreat of death, and hid them there from a thousand
perils which might have plunged them into guilt and de-
filement. He beheld this as the proper season to give
them a release from a world of labor and toil, vanity and
vexation, sin and sorrow. They are taken away from
the evil to come, and I will learn to complain no more.
Tiie blessed Jesus to whom they had devoted themselves,
well knew what allurements of gaiety and joy might
have been too prevalent over them, and he gave them a
kind escape lest their souls should suffer any real det-
riment, lest their strict profession of piety should be soil-
ed or dishonored. He knew how mucli they ivere ahle
to beai% and lie iconld lay ujmn them no further burden.
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION, 34^7
He saw rising difficulties approaching, and new perils
coming upon them beyond their strength, and he fulfils
their own promises, and glorifies his oxvn faithfulness,
by opening the door of his well known hiding place,
and giving them a safe refuge there. He keeps them
there in secret from the corruptions of a public life, and
the multiplied dangers of a degenerate age, which might
have divided their hearts from God and things heavenly.
And perhaps he guards them also in that dark retreat
from some long and languishing sickness, some unknown
distress, some overbearing flood of misery, which was
like to come upon them had they continued longer on
the stage of life.
^^Let this silence thy murmuring thoughts, Omy soul;
let this dry up thy tears which are ready to overflow on
such an occasion. Dare not pronounce it a stroke of
anger from the hand of God, who divided them from
the tempting or the distressing scenes of this world, and
kindly removed them out of the way of danger. This
was the wisest method of his love to guard them from
many a folly and many a sorrow, which he foresaw just
at the door."
Will the wounded and complaining heart go on to
groan and murmur still, ^'^ But my son was carried off
in the prime of life, or my daughter in her blooming
years ; they stood flourishing in the vigor of their na-
ture, and it was my delight to behold their growing
appearances of virtue and goodness, and that in the
midst of ease, and plenty, and prospects of happiness,
so far as this world can afford it ?"
But could you look through the next year to the end
of it ? Could you penetrate into future events, and sur-
vey the scenes of seven years to come ? Could your
heart assure itself of the real possession of this imagina-
ry view of happiness and peace ? Perhaps the blessed
God saw the clouds gathering afar off;, and at a great
348 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,
distance of tirae, and in much kindness he housed your
favorite from unknown trials, dangers and sorrows.
So a prudent gardener, who is acquainted with tlie sky,
and skilful in the signs of the seasons, even in the month
of May, foresees a heavy tempest rising in the edge of
the horizon, while a vulgar eye observes nothing but
sunshine ; and he who knows the worth and the tender-
ness of some special plants in his garden, houses them
in haste, lest they should be exposed and demolished
by the sweeping rain or hail.
You say, these children were in the bloom of life^ and
in the most desirable appearance of jo^ and satisfaction.
But is not that also usually the most dangerous season
of life, and the hour of most powerful temptation ? Was
not that the time when their passions might have been
too hard for them, and the deluding pleasures of life
stood round them with a most perilous assult ? And
"what if God, out of pure compassion, saw it necessary
to liide them from an army of perils at once, and to car-
ry them oif the stage of life with more purity and honor?
Surely when the great God has appointed it, when the
blessed Jesus has done it, we would not rise up in op-
position and say, "But I would have liad them live lon-
ger here at all adventures. I wish they were alive
again, let the consequence be what it will." This is
not the voice of faith or patience ; this is not the lan-
guage of holy submission and love to God, nor can our
souls approve of such irregular storms of ungoverned
affection, which oppose tliemselves to the divine will,
and raffle tlie soul with criminal disquietude.
There are many, even of tlie children of God, who
bad left a more unblemished and a more honorable
character behind them, if they had died much sooner.
The latter end of life hath sometimes sullied their bright-
ness, and tarnished the glory they had acquired in a
liopeful youth. Their growing years have fallen under
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 349
such temptations, and been defiled and disgraced by such
failings, as would have been entirely prevented had they
been summoned away into God's hiding place some years
before. Our blessed Jesus walks among the roses and
lilies in the garden of his church, and m hen he sees a
wintry storm coming upon some tender plants of righ-
teousness, he hides them in earth to preserve life in them,
that they may bloom with new glories when they shall
be raised from that bed. The blessed God acts like a
tender Father, and consults the safety and honor of his
children, wheji the hand of his mercy snatches them
away before that powerful temptation comes, which he
foresees would have defiled and distressed, and almost
destroyed them. They are not lost, but they are gone
to rest a little sooner than we are. Peace be to that bed
of dust where tiiey are hiddeu, by the hand of their God,
from unknown dangers ! Blessed be our Lord Jesus,
who has the keys of the grave, and never opens it for
Lis favorites but in the wisest season !
Observation III. God has appointed a set time in his
own counsels for all his children to continue in death.
Those whom he has hidden in the grave he remembers
they lie there, and he will not suifer them to abide in
the dust for ever. When Job entreats of God that he
may be hidden from his sorrows in the dust of death,
he requests also that God would appoint a set time for
his release, and remember him. His faith seems to
have had a glimpse of the blessed resurrection. Our
senses and our carnal passions would cry out, where is
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the an-
cient worthies, who have been long sleepers in their
beds of repose for many thousand years ? But faith as-
sures us, that God numbers the days and the months of
their concealment under ground ; he knows where their
dust lies, and where to find every scattered atom against
the great restoring (lay. They are unseen indeed and
350 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,
forgotten of men, but they arc under the eye and tho
keeping of the blessed God. He watches over then-
sleeping dust, and while the world has forgotten and lost
even their names, they are every moment under the eye
of God, for they stand written in his book of life, with
the name of the Lamb at the head of them.
Jesus, his Son, had but three days appointed him to
dwell in his hiding place, and he rose again at the ap-
pointed hour. Other good men, who were gone to tlieir
grave not long before him, arose again at the resurrection
of Christ, and made a visit to many in Jerusalem. Their
appointed hiding place was but for a short season ; and
all the children of God shall be remembered in theii
proper seasons in faithfulness to his Son, to wliom he
has given them. The Head, is raised to the mansions of
glory, and the members must not for ever lie in dust.
Mejieetion. Then let all the saints of God wait with
patience for the appointed time Avhen he will call them
down to death, and let them lie dow n in their secret
beds of repose, and in a waiting frame commit their dust
to liis care till the resurrection. Ml the days of my ajj-
fohited time (says Job) I unll wait till my change come.
The word appointed time is supposed to signify warfare
in the Hebrew. As a sentinel, when he is fixed to his
post by liis general, he waits there till he has orders for
a release. And this clause of the verse may refer either
to dying or rising again, for either of them is a very
great and important change passing upon human nature,
whether from life to death, or from death to life.
It is said by the prophet Isaiah, chap, xxviii. 16 ; Me
that believeth shall not make haste ; that is, he that trusts
in the wisdom and the promised mercy of Go/l will not
be too urgent or importunate in any of his desires. It
is for want of faith that nature sometimes is in too much
haste to die, as Job in some of his expressions appears
to have been, or as Elijah perhaps discovered himself
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 351
wlien he was wandering in the wilderness disconsolate
and almost despairing, or as the prophet Jeremiah suffi-
ciently manifested, when he cursed the day of his birth,
or as Jonah was, that peevish prophet, when he was an-
gry with God for not taking away his life; but the ground
of it was, he was vexed because God did not destroy
Ninevah according to his propliecy. These are certain
blemishes of the children of God left upon record in his
word, to give us warning of our danger of impatience,
and to guard ns against their sins and follies. And
since we know that God has appointed tlie seasons of
our entrance into death, and into the state of the resur-
rection, we should humbly commit the disposal of our-
selves to the hand of our God, who will bestow upon us
the most needful blessings in the most proper season.
Do not the spirits of the just made perfect wait in pa-
tience for the great and blessed rising day which God
has appointed, and for the illustrious change of their
bodies from corruption and darkness to light, and life,
and glory ? God has promised it, and that suffices and
supports their waiting spirits, though they know not the
hour. The Father keeps that in Ms own hand, and per-
haps reveals it to none but his Son Jesus, who is exalted
to be the Governor and Judge of the world. There
are millions of souls waiting in that separate state for
the accomplishment of these last and best promises,
ready to shout and rejoice when tliey shall see and feel
that bright morning dawning upon them.
Wait therefore, O my soul, as becomes a child of
God in the wilderness among many trials, darknesses,
and distresses. He lias stripped thee perhaps of one
comfort after another, and tliy friends and dear relatives
in succession are called down to the dust ; tliey are re-
leased from their conflicts, and are placed far out of the
reach of every temptation ; and it is not thy business to
prescribe to God at what hour he shall release thee also.
35S SAFETY IN THE GR WE,
Whensoever he is pleased to call thee to lay down thy
flesh in the dust, and to enter into God's hiding place,
meet tiiou the summons with holy courage, satisfaction
and joy, enter into the chamber of rest till all the days
of sin, sorrow, and wretchedness, are overpast. Lie
down there ;n a waiting frame, and commit thy flesh to
liis care and keeping, till the hour in which he has ap-
pointed thy glorious change.
Observation IV. The lively view of a happy resurrec-
tion, and a well grounded hope of this blessed change,
is a solid and divine comfort to the saints of God, under
all trials of every kind, both in life and death. The
faith and hope of a joyful rising day has supported the
children of God under long distresses and huge agonies
of sorrow which they sustain here. It is the expectation
of this desirable dav that animates the soul with vii^or
and life, to fulfil every painful and dangerous duty. It
is for this we expose ourselves to the bitter reproaches
and persecutions of the wicked world ; it is for this that
we conflict with all our adversaries on earth, and all
the powers of darkness that are sent from hell to annoy
us; it is this joyful expectation that bears up our spirits
under every present burden and calamity of life.
What could we do in such a painful and dying world,
or how could we bear with patience the long fatigues of
such a wretched life, if we had no hope of rising again
from the dead ? Surely we are the most miserable of all
men in days of public persecution, if we had hope only
in this life ; 1 Cor. xv. 19. It is for this that we labor,
and suifer, and endure whatsoever our heavenly Father
is pleased to lay upon us. It is this confirms our forti-
tude, and makes '^us steadfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as vve
know that our labor shall not be in vain in the Lord ;''
1 Cor. XV. 58. It is this that enables us to bear the
loss of our dearest friends with patience and hope, and
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 353
assuages the smart of our sharpest sorrows. For since we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, so we rejoice in
hope that they which sleep in Jesus shall he brought with
him at his return, and shall appear in brighter and more
glorious circumstances than ever our eyes were blessed
with here on earth ; 1 Thess. iv 13. This teaches us
to triumph over death and the grave in divine language,
O death, where is thy sting ! O grave, where is thy
victory !
Hefiectioyi. What are thy chief burdens, O my soul ?
Whence are all thy sighs and thy daily^ groanings ?
What are thy distresses of flesh or spirit ? Summon
them all in one view, and see whether there be not
power and glory enough in a resurrection to conquer and
silence them all, and to put thy present sorrows to
flight ?
Dost thou dwell in a vexing and persecuting world,
amongst oppressions and reproaches ? But those who
reproach and oppress are but mortal creatures, who shall
shortly go down to the dust, and then they shall tyrannize
and afllict thee no more. The great rising day shall
change the scene from oppression and reproach to do-
minion and glory. When they lie doivn in the grave
like beasts of slaughter, death shall feed on them, and the
upright shall have dominion over them in the morning,
when God shall redeem thy soul from the power of the
grave. Thy God shall hide thy body from their rage
in his own appointed resting place, and he shall receive
thy soul, and keep it secure in his own presence, till
that blessed morning break upon this lower creation ;
then shalt thou arise and shine, for the glory of the Lord
is risen upon thee.
Do the calamities which thou sufferest proceed from
the hand of God ? Art thou disquieted with daily pain,
with sicknesses, and anguish in thy flesh? Or art thou
surrounded with crosses and disappointments in thy
4.^
354 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,
outward circumstances? Are thy spirits sunk with
many loads of care and pressing perplexities ? Canst
thou not forget them all in the vision tliat faith can give
thee of the great rising day ? Canst thou not say in the
language of faith, the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to he compared with the glory that shall he
revealed in us ? Then the head and the heart shall
ache no more, and every circumstance around thee shall
be pleasing and joyful for ever.
Or art thou tenderly affected with the loss nf pious
friends, who have been very dear and desirable ? Per-
haps thy sensibilities here are too great and painful.
They are such indeed as nature is ready to indulge, bul
are they not more than God requires, or the gospel
allows ? Do not tiiy thoughts dwell too much on the
gloom and darkness of the grave ? O think of that
bright hour when every saint shall rise from the dark
retreats of death, with more complete characters of
beauty, holiness and pleasure, than ever this world could
shew them in ! They are not perished, but sent a little
before us into God's hiding place, where, though tliey
lie in dust and darkness, yet they are safe from the dan-
gers and vexations of life ; but they sliall spring up in
the happy moment into immortality, and shall join with
thee in a mutual surprise at each other's divine cliange.
Or dost thou feel the corruptions of thy heart working
within thee, and the sins of thy nature restless in tlieir
endeavors to bring defilement upon tliy soul, and guilt
upon tliy conscience? Go on and maintain the lioly war-
fare against all these rising iniquities. This my warfare
shall not continue long. Tliou shalt find every one of
these sins buried with thee in the grave : but they shall
rise to assault thee no more. The saint shall leave
every sin behind him when he breaks out of the dust at
the summons of Christ ; and tliou shalt find no seeds of
iniquity in thy body, when it is raised from tlie grnvo.
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 355
Holiness to the Lord shall be inscribed upon all thy
powers for ever.
Or art thou perplexed, O my soul, at the near pros-
pect of death, and all the terrors and dismal appearances
that surround it ? Art thou afraid to lie down in the
cold and noisome grave ? Does thy nature shudder at
it as a gloomy place of horror ? These indeed are the
prejudices of sense ; but the language of faith will tell
thee, it is only God^s hiding place where he secures his
saints till all the ages of sin and sorrow are overpast.
Look forward to the glorious morning when thou shalt
rise from the dust among ten thousand of thy fellows,
every one in the image of the Son of God, with their
hodies formed after the likeness of his glorious hody,
and rejoicing together with divine satisfaction in the
pleasure of this heavenly change. Try whether the
meditation of these glories, and the distant prospect of
this illustrious day, will scatter all the gloom that hovers
round tlie grave, and vanquish the fiercest appearances
of the king of terrors.
What is there, O my soul, among all the miseries
thou hast felt, or all that thou fearest, that can sink tliy
courage, if the faith of a resurrection be but alive and
wakeful ? But this leads me to
Observj^tion V. The saints of God, ivho are resting
in their beds cf dust, will arise joyfully at the call of
their heavenly Father. Thou shalt call, and I will
answer thee, said holy Job. The command of God
creates life, and gives power to the dead to arise and
speak. / come, O Lord, I come. When Jesus, the
Son of God, as with the trumpet of an archangel, shall
pronounce the word which he spake to Lazarus, Arise
and come fortlu dust and rottenness shall hear the call
from heaven, and the clods of corruption all around the
earth shall arise into the form of man. The saints shall
appear at once and answer to that divine call, arrayed
356 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,
ill a glory like that of angels ; an illustrious host of mar-
tyrs and confessors for the truth ; an army of heroes and
valiant sufferers for the na je and cause of God and his
Son ; an innumerable multitude of faithful servants who
have finished their work, and lay down at rest.
How shall Adam, the father of our race, together with
the holy men of his day, be surprised when they shall
awake out of their long sleep of five thousand years ?
How shall all the saints of the intermediate ages break
from their beds of darkness with intense delight ? And
those who lay down but yesterday in the dust shall start
up at once with their early ancestors, and answer to the
call of Jesus from one end of time to the other, and from
all the ends of the earth. They shall arise together to
7neet the Lord in the air, that they may he for ever with
the Lord.
Never was any voice obeyed with more readiness and
joy than the voice or trumpet of the great archangel,
summoning all the children of God to awake from their
long slumbers, and to leave their dusty beds behind
them, with all the seeds of sin and sorrow, which are bu-
ried and lost tliere for ever. Never did any army on earth
march with more speed and pleasure, at tlie sound of the
trumpet, to attend their general to a new triumph, than
this glorious assembly shall arise to meet their returning
Lord, when this last trumpet sounds, and when he shall
come the second time in the full glories of his person and
his offices, as Lord and Judge of tlie world, to bring
his faithful followers into complete salvation.
Reflection. Whensoever, O my soul, thou feelest
any reluctance to obey the summons of death, encourage
thy faith, and scatter thy fears, by waiting for the call of
God to a blessed resurrection. Jesus himself lay down
in the grave at his Father's command, and he arose with
joy at the appointed hour, as the head of the new cre-
ation, as the first born from the dead ; and he has orders
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION, 357
given him by the Father to summon every saint from
their graves at the long appointed hour. Because Jesus,
arose and lives, they shall arise and live also. O may
my flesh lie down in the dust with all courage and com-
posure, and rejoice to escape into a place of rest and si-
lence, far away from the noise and tumult, the hurry
and bustle of this present life ; being well assured that
the next sound which shall be heard is the voice of the
Son of God, arise ye dead! Make haste then, O blessed
Jesus, and finish thy divine work here on earth. I lay
down my head to sleep in the dust, waiting for thy call
to awake in the morning.
Observation VI. God takes delight in his icorks of
nature, hut much more when they are dignified and
adorned by the operations of divine grace. Thou wilt
have a desire, saith the good man in my text, to the work
of thy own hands. Thou hast moulded me and fashioned
me at first by thy power ; thou hast new created me by
thy Spirit, and though thou hidest me for a season in
one of thy secret chambers of death, thou wilt raise me
again to light and life ; and in my flesh shall I see God.
When the Almighty had created this visible world,
he surveyed his works on the seventh day, and pronoun-
ced them all good ; and he took delight in them all be-
fore sin entered and defiled them. And when he has
delivered the creatures of his power from the bondage of
corruption, and has purged our souls and our bodies
from sin and from every evil principle, he will again
delight in the sons and daughters of Adam, whom he
has thus cleansed and refined by his sovereign grace, and
has qualified and adorned them for his own presence.
He. will sing and rejoice over them, and rest in his love ;
Zeph. iii. I7.
He will love to see them with his Son Jesus at their
head, diffusing holiness and glory through all his mem-
bers. Jesus the Redeemer will love to see them round
358 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,
liim, for lie has bought them with his blood, and they are
a treasure too precious to be for ever lost. He will re-
joice to behold them rising at his call into a splendor like
his own, and they shall he satisjipd when they awake
from death into his likeyiess, and appear in the image of
his own glorious body, fit heirs for the inheritance of
heaven, fit companions for the blessed angels of light,
and prepared to dwell for ever with himself.
Reflection. And shall not we w ho are the work of his
hands have a desire to him that made us ? To him that
redeemed us ? To him that has new created and moulded
us into his own likeness ? Do we not long to see him ?
Have we not a desire to be with him, even though we
should be absent from the body for a season? But much
more should we delight to think of being present icitli
the Lord, when our whole natures, body and soul, shall
appear as the new workmanship of Almighty power ; our
souls new created in the image of God, and our bodies
new born from the dead, into a life of immortality.
Observation VII. The last observation is of a very
general nature, and spreads itself through all my text,
and that is, hoiv much are ice indebted to God for the
revelation of the J\*ew Testament, which teaches us to
find out the blessings which are contained in the Old,
and to fetch out the glories and treasures which are con-
cealed there ? The writers of the gospel have not only
pointed us to the rich mines where these treasures lie,
but have brought forth many of the jewels and set them
before us. It is this gospel tliat brings life and immor-
tality to light by Jesus Christ; 2 Tim. i. 10. It is this
gospel tliat scatters the gloom and darkness which was
spread over the face of tlic grave, and illiminates all the
chambers of death. Who could have found out the
doctrine of the resurrection contained in that word of
grace given to Abraham, / am thy God, if Jesus, the
great Prophet, had not taught us to explain k thus ?
AND JOY AT THE RESURRECTION. 359
Matt. xxii. 31 ; God is not the God of the dead^ but of
the living.
We who have the happiness to live in the days of the
Messiah, know more than all the ancient prophets were
acquainted with, and understand the word of their pro-
phecies better than they themselves ; for they searched
2chat, or what manner qj^Mmethe spirit of Christ which
ivas in thern^ did signify, when it testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory ivhich should
follow ; 1 Pet. i. 11. But we read all this fairly written
in the gospel. Do you think that good David could
have explained some of his own Psalms into so divine a
sense, or Isaiah given such a briglit account of his own
words of prophecy, as St. Paul has done in several
places of the New Testament, where he cites and unfolds
them ? Could those illustrious ancients liave given us
such abundant consolation and hojje through the scrij}-
tures, which they themselves wrote aforetime, as this
Apostle has done ; Rom. xv. 4, Do you think Job
could have read us such a lecture on his own expressions
in this text, or in that briglit pophecy in the nineteenth
chapter, as the very meanest among the ministers of the
gospel can do by the help of the New Testament ? For
in point of clear discoveries of divine trutlis and graces,
the least in the kingdom of the Messiah is greater than
John the Baptist and all the prophets, and our blessed
Jesus has told us so ; Matt. xi. 11, 13. And by the aid
and influences of his Spirit we may be taught yet further
to search into these hidden mines of grace, and bring
forth new treasures of glory.
Reflection. Awake, O my soul, and ])less the Lord
with all thy powers, and give thanks with holy joy for
the gospel of his Son Jesus. It is Jesus by his rising
from the dead has left a divine light upon the gates of
the grave, and scattered much of the darkness that sur-
rounded it. It is the gospel of Christ which casts a glory
360 SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,
even upon the bed of death, and spreads a brightness
upon the gi'aves of the saints in the lively views of a
great rising day. O blessed and surprising prospect of
faith ! 0 illustrious scenes of future vision and transport !
When the Son of God shall bring forth to public view
all his redeemed ones, \vho had been long hidden in
night and dust, and shair^r^iipit them all to God the
Father in his own image, brigtit and holy, and unblem-
ished, in the midst of all the splendors of the resurrec-
tion ! O blessed and joyful voice, when he shall say
with divine pleasure, '* Here am /, and the children
which thou hast given me. We have both passed
through the grave, and I have made them all conquerors
of death, and vested them with immortality according to
thy divine commission ! Thine the.ij were, O Father, and
thou hast given them into my hands, and behold I have
brought them all safe to thy appointed mansions, and I
present them before thee without spot or blemish."
And many a parent of a pious household in that day,
when they shall see their sons and their daughters around
tliem, all arrayed with the beams of the Sun of rigteous-
ness, shall echo with holy joy to the voice of the blessed
Jesus, ^' Lord^ here am I and the children which thou hast
given me. I was afraid, as Job once might be when his
friends suggested this fear ; I was afraid that my children
had sinned against God, and he had cast them away for
their transgression. But I am now convinced, when
he seized them from my sight, he only took them out of
the way of temptation and danger, and concealed them
for a season in his safe hiding place. I mourned in the
daytime for a lost son or a lost daughter, and in the
night my couch was bedewed with my tears. I was
scared with midnight dreams on their account, and the
visions of the grave terrified me because my children
were there. I gave up myself to sorrow for fear of the
displeasure of my God, both against them and against
A SPEECH OVER A GRAVE. 861
me. But how unreasonable were these sorrows ? How
groundless were my fears ? How gloriously am I disap-
pointed this blessed morning? I see my dear offspring
called out of that long retreat where God had concealed
them, and they arise to meet the divine call. I hear
them answering with joy to the happy summons. My
eyes behold them risen in the image of my God and
their God ; they are near me, tJiey stand with me at the
right hand of the Judge ; now shall we rejoice together
in the sentence of eternal blessedness from the lips of my
Lord and their Lord, my Redeemer and their Redeem-
er." Amen,
A SPEECH OVER A GRAVE.
Among my papers I have found a speech spoken at a,
grave, wliicii I transcribed almost fifty years ago, and
which deserves to be saved from perishing. It was
pronounced many years before, at the funeral of a
pious person, by a minister there present, supposed
to be the Rev. Mr. Peter S perry ; and the subject
of it being suited to this discourse, I thought it not
improper to preserve it here.
^^ CHRISTIAN friends, though sin be entered into
the world, and by sin death, and so death passed upon
all men, for tliat all have sinned ; yet it seems not wholly
suitable to our christian hope, to stand by and see the
grave with open mouth take ?n, and swallow down any
part of a precious saint, and not bring some testimony
against the devourer. And yet that our witness may be
in righteousness, we must first own, acknowledge, and
accept of that good and serviceableness that is in it.
^•For tiirougii the death and resurrection of our dear
Redeemer, death and the grave are become sweetened
46
363 A SPEECH OVER A GRAVE.
to US, and sanctified for us. So that as death is but a
sleep, the grave through his lying down in it and rising
again, is become as a bed of repose to them that are in
him, and a safe and quiet hiding place for his saints till
the resurrection.
•^And in this respect we do for ourselves, and for
this our dearly beloved in the Lord, accept of thee, O
grave, and readily deliver up her body to thee ; it is a
body that hath been weakened and wearied with long
affliction and anguish, we freely give, it unto thee; re-
ceive it, and let it have in thee a quiet rest from all its la-
bors; for thus we read it written of thee, there the wicked
cease from troubling^ and there the weary be at rest.
" Besides, it is, O grave, a body that hath been sweet-
ly embalmed by a virtuous, pious, peaceable conversa-
tion, by several inward openings and outpourings of the
spirit of life, by much patience and meekness in strong
trials and afflictions. Receive it, and let it enjoy in
thee, what was once deeply impressed on her own heart,
and in a due season written out with her own hand, a
sjabbath in the grave. For thus also we find it recorded
of our Lord and her Lord, that he enjoyed the rest of
his last sabbath in the grave.
^^ But we know tliee, O grave, to be also a devourer,
and yet we can freely deliver up the body into thee.
There was in it a contracted corruptibility, dishonor and
weakness ; take them as thy proper prey, they belong
to thee, and we would not withhold them from thee.
Freely swallow them up for ever, that they may appear
no more.
*^ Yet know, O grave, there is in the body, considered
as once united to such a soul, a divine relation to the
Lord of life ; and this thou must not, thou canst not
dissolve or destroy. But know, and even before thee,
and over thee be it spoken, that there is a season hast-
ening wherein we shall expect it again from thee in in-
corruption, honor and power.
THE NATURE OF THE PUNISHMENTS IN HELL. S63
*^ We now sow it into thee in dishonor, but expect it
again returned from thee in glory ; we now sow it into
thee in weakness, we expect it again in power ; we now
sow it into thee a natural body, we look for it again
from thee a spiritual body.
"And when thou has fulfilled that end for which the
Prince of life, who took thee captive, made thee to serve,
then shalt thou who hast devoured, be thyself also
swallowed up, for thus it is written of thee, O death, I
will he thy plague, O grave, I icill he thy destruction.
And then shall we sing over thee what also is written
of thee, 0 death, where is now thy sting 9 0 grave
where is now thy victory f Amen.
J\ote. A line or two is altered in this speech, to suit it more to the under-
standing and the sense of the present age.
DISCOURSE XII.
THE NATURE OF THE PUNISHMENTS IN
HELL.
MARK ix 46.
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
INTRODUCTION.
THESE words are a short description of hell, by
the lips of the Son of God, who came down from heaven.
And he who lay in the bosom of his Father, and was
intimate in all the councils of his mercy and justice, must
be supposed to know what the terrors and the wrath of
God are, as well as his compassion and his goodness.
364 THE NATURE OF THE
It is confessed J that a discourse on this dreadful sub-
ject is not a direct ministration of grace and the glad
tidings of salvation, yet it has a great and happy ten-
dency to the same end, even the salvation of sinful men ;
for it awakens them to a more piercing sight, and to a
more keen sensation of their own guilt and danger : it
possesses their spirits with a more lively sense of their
misery, it fills them with a holy dread of divine punish-
ment, and excites tfie powerful passion of fear to make
them fly from the wrath to come, and betake themselves
to the grace of God revealed in the gospel.
The blessed Saviour himself, who was the most per-
fect image of liis Father's love, and the prime minister
of his grace, pul)lishes more of tliese terrors to the world,
ami preaches hell and damnation to sinners more than
all the prophets or teachers tliat ever went before him ;
and several of the apostles imitate their Lord in this
practice. They kindle the flames of hell in their epis-
tles, they thunder through the very hearts and conscien-
ces of men with the voice of damnation and eternal mis-
ery, to make stupid sinners feel as much of these terrors
in the present prospect as is possible, in order to escape
the actual sensation of them in time to come.
Such awful discourses are many times also of excel-
lent use to keep the children of God, and the disciples
of Jesus, in a holy and watchful frame, and to aifright
them from returning to sin and folly, and from the in-
dulgence of any temptation, by setting these terrors of
the Lord before their eyes. O may these words of his
terror, from the lips of one of the meanest of his minis-
ters, be attended with divine power from the convincing
and sanctifying Spirit, that they may answer these happy
ends and purposes, that they may excite a solemn rev-
erence of the dreadful majesty of God in all our souls,
and awaken us to repentance for every sin, and a more
^vatchful course of holiness !
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 365
Let US then consider the expression in my text. When
our Saviour mentions the word hell, he adds where their
worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched ; in which
description we may read the nature of this punishment,
and the perpetuity of it.
First. We shall consider the nature of this punish-^
ment, as it is represented by the metaphors which our
Saviour uses ; and if I were to give the most natural and
proper sense of this representation, I would say that
our Saviour might borrow this figure of speech from
these three considerations.
1. Worms and fire are the two most general ways
nvhereby the bodies of the dead are destroyed ; for
whether they are buried or not buried, worms devour
those who, by the custom of their country, are not burnt
with fire ; and perhaps he might refer to the words of
Isaiah Ixvi. 24, where the prophet seems to foretell
the punishment ot those who will not receive the gospel
when it shall be preached to all nations. They, says
he, (that is the true Israel, the saints of God, or chris-
tians,) they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of
the men who have transgressed against me, for their icorm
shall not die, neither shall their fire he quenched^ and
they shall he an abhorrence to all fiesh. It is highly
probable that this is only a metaphor referring to the
punishment of the souls of obstinate unbelievers in hell,
for it would be but a very small punishment indeed, if
only their dead bodies were devoured by worms or fire,
or rather no punishment at all besides a memorial of
their sin.
2. Consider the gnawing of worms and the burning
of fire are some of the most smart and severe torments that
a living man can feel in the flesh ; therefore the ven-
geance of God, upon the souls of obstinate sinners, is
set forth by it in our Saviour's discourse ; and it was
probably well known amongst the Jews, as appears by
36§ THE NATURE OP THE
some of the Apocryphal writings : Judith xvi. 17; ^^ Wo
to the nation that rises up against my kindred ; the
Lord Almighty will take vengeance of them in the day
of judgment, putting fire and worms in their flesh, and
they shall feel them and weep for ever." And Eccles.
vii. 16, 17 ; ^'Number not thyself among the multitude of
sinners, but remember the wrath will not tarry long.
Humble thy soul greatly, for the vengeance of the un-
godly is fire and worms."
3. Consider whether worms feed upon a living man
or devour his dead body, still they are such as are bred
irt his own flesh ; butflre is brought by other hands, and
applied to the flesh. Even so this metaphor of a worm
liappily represents the inward torments and the teasing
and vexing jiassions which shall arise in the souls of
those unhappy creatures, who are the just objects of this
punishment ; and it is called their worm, that worm
that belongs to them, and is bred within them by the
foul vices and diseases of their souls. But the fi,re
which shall never be quenched^ refers rather to the pains
and anguish which come from without^ and that chiefly
from the hand of God, the righteous avenger of sin, and
from his indignation, which is compared to fire.
SECTION L
The worm that dieth not.
Let us begin with the first of these, viz. the torments
which are derived from the gnawing worm, those ago-
nies and uneasy passions which will arise and work in
the souls of these wretched creatures, so far as we can
collect them from the word of God, from the reason of
things, and the working powers of human nature.
When an impenitent sinner is cast into hell, we have
abundant reason to suppose, that the evil leraper of his
isoul, and the vicious principles within him, are not
iPUNISH]VrBNTS OF HELL. 367
abated ; but his natural powers, and the vices which
have tainted them and mingle with them, are awakened
and enraged into intense activity and exercise, under the
first sensations of his dreadful punishment. Let us en-
deavor to conceive then what would be the ferments, the
raging passions, and the vexing inward torments of a
wicked man, seized by the officers of an Almighty
Judge, borne away by the executioners of vengeance,
and plunged into a pit of torture and smarting misery,
while at the same time he had a most fresh and piercing
conviction ever present, that he had brought all this
mischief upon himself by his own guilt and folly.
I. The first particular piece of wretchedness therefore
contained in this metaphor, is the remorse and terrible
anguish of conscience ichich shall never he relieved.
How terrible are the racks of a guilty conscience here
on earth, which arise from a sense of past sins ? How
does David cry out and roar under the disquietude of
his spirit ? Psalm xxxii. 3 ; " While I kept silence"
and confessed not mine iniquity, ^* my bones waxed old
through my roaring all the day long ; day and niglit thy
hand was heavy upon me ; and my moisture is turned
into the drought of summer." And again. Psalm
xxxviii. 4; "Mine iniquities are gone over mine head,
as an heavy burden ; they are too heavy for me." God
has Avisely so framed the nature and spirit of man, that
a reflection on Jiis past misbehavior should raise such
keen anguish at his heart ; and thousands have felt it in
a dreadful degree, even while they have continued in
this world, in the land of life and hope.
But when death has divided the soul from this body,
and from all the means of grace, and cut off all the hopes
of pardoning mercy for ever, w hat smart beyond all our
thoughts and expressions, must the sinner feel from
such inward wounds of conscience ? And it gives a
twinging accent to every sorrow when the sinner is con-
368 THE NATURE OP THE
strained to cry out, '^' It is 1, it is I who have brought
all tills upon myself. Life and death were set before
me in the world where I once dwelt, but I refused the
blessings of eternal life, and the oifers of saving grace.
I turned my back upon the ways of holiness which led
to life, and renounced the tenders of divine mercy. I
chose the paths of sin, and folly, and madness, though
I knew thev^, led to everlasting misery and death.
Wretch thaHT was, to choose those sins and these sor-
rows, though I knew they were necessarily joined
together ! 1 am sent into those regions of misery which
I chose for myself, against all the kind admonitions and
warnings of God and Christ, of his gospel and his min-
isters of grace ! 0 these cursed eyes of mine, that led
me into the snares of guilt and folly ! These cursed
hands that practised iniquity with greediness ! These
cursed lips of mine, which dishonored my Maker ! O
these cursed appetites and passions, and this obstinate
will, which iiave wrought my ruin ! This cursed body
and soul, that have procured their own everlasting
wretchedness !" These thoughts will be like a gnaw-
ing worm v/ithin, which will prey upon the spirit for
ever. The fretting smart arising from this vexatious
worm, must be painful in the highest extreme, when we
know it is a worm which will never die, which will for
ever hang at our heart, and sting our vitals in the most
tender and sensible parts of them without intermission,
as well as without end.
Here on earth the stings and scourges of conscience
meet with some intervals of relief, from necessary busi-
ness which employs the mind, from gay company which
diverts the heart, from the refreshments of nature by
day, or from the sweet repose of the returning night.
But in the world to come, every hour shall be filled up
with these cutting sorrows, for there is no season of re-
freshment, no diversion of mind, uo sleeping there. All
PUNISHMENTS IN HELL, 369
things are for ever a^ake in that world. There are no
shadows and darkness to hide us where this torment
shall not find us, for it is bred and lives within. There
is no couch there to lull the conscience into soft repose,
and to permit the sufferer to forget his agonies. Ancient
crimes shall rise up and stand for ever before the eyes of
the sinner in all their glaring forms, and all their heinous
aggravating circumstances. Tliese will sit heavy upon
the spirit with teasing and eternal vexation. O dread-
ful state of an immortal creature, which must for ever be
its own tormentor, and shall know no relief through all
the ages of its immortality ! Think of this bitter anguish
of soul, O sinner, to guard thee from sin in an hour of
strong temptation.
II. Another spring of this torment will be the over'
whelming sense of an angry God, and utter despair of
his love which is lost for ever. It was the thought of
the displeasure of God, which pierced the soul of David
with such acute pain, when he remembered his sins ;
Psalm li. 3. 4- ; My sin is ever before me. Against thee,
against thee only have I sinned, and I have done this
evil in thy sight. Antl again he pleads with God, Psalm
vi. 1 ; O Lord, chasten me not in thine anger, nor vex
me in thy sore displeasure. He could face an host of
armed men without fear, but he could not face an angry
God, whose loving kindness is life, and the loss of whose
love is worse than death. Psalm Ixxvii. 3 ; 1 remem-
bered God, said he, and was troubled ; that is, lest he
should be favorable no more, and shut up his tender mer-
cies in everlasting anger. This was the terror of that
good man, under a deep sense of his crimes, and of God
hiding his face from him; and this even while he was
in the land of the living, and was not cast out beyond
all hope.
Rut when the grave shuts its mouth on the sinner,
and he is thrust out into utter darkaess; where the light
47
370 THE NATURE OF THE
of God's countenance never shines, nor will shine, how
insupportable must such anguish be ?
Here in this life perliaps a profane wre+ch has ima-
gined he could live well enougli without God in the
world, and was content to have nothing to do with hira
in a way of worship or dependance here. He deter-
mined with himself, that the less he could think of God,
the better ; and so forgot his Maker days without num-
ber. But in those regions of hell, whither the sinner
sliall be driven, he can never forget an angry God, nor
fly out of tlie reach of his terrors.
^^ I am now convinced,'' saitii he, " but too late, tliat
happiness dwells in his presence, and rivers of pleasures
flow at his right hand; but this happiness I shall never
see, these streams of pleasure 1 shall never taste ; he is
gone for ever with all his love and with all his blessings ;
God is gone with all his graces and pardons beyond my
reach. He stands afar oif from my groanings. He told
me of it heretofore in the ministry of his word ; but,
wretch tliat I was ! I would not hearken, I would not
believe. I was invited by the Son of his love to receive
his gospel, and to partake of forgiving mercy ; he
stretched out his hands with divine compassion, and
oifered to receive my soul to his grace, and to wash away
my defilements with his own blood ; he beseeched me
to repent and return to God, and assured me he would
secure his Father's favor to me, and a place among the
mansions of his glory. But cursed rebel that I M^as, to
despise tliis salvation, and resist the offers of such love,
and to renounce such divine compassion ! These offers
of mercy are for ever finished ; I shall never see him
more as surrounded with the blessings of his grace, but
as the minister of his Fathei-'s justice, and the avenger
of his abused mercy. There is no other Saviour, no
other Intercessor, to procure divine favor for me : and
PUNISHMENTS OP HFIJ,. S^l
my hopes are overwhelmed and buried in the eternal
despair of his love.''
III. There will be found also among the damned, a
constant enmity, and malice, and hatred against the
blessed God, which can never satisfy nor ease itself by
revenge. It seems very strange indeed, that a creature
should design revenge against his Maker ; but thus it is
in these dismal regions of hell. Every wicked man is
by nature at enmity with God, and in a state of rebellion ;
and when this enmity is wrought up to malice, under a
sense of his punishing hand, then arises that cursed and
detestible desire in the soul of revenging itself against its
Maker. The fallen angels, those wicked spirits, have
found this dismal temper of mind reigning in them.
They hate the blessed God with intense malice, because
his governing justice sees fit to punish their pride and
other iniquities ; and they would fain be revenged of
liim by destroying mankind who were made after his
image. Their malice cannot reach him in the heights of
his glory ; but they can reach man his creature, made in
his likeness ; and they began to take their revenge there
near six thousand years ago. All the sins, and all the
miseries of the sons and daughters of Adam, from the
beginning of the world to this day, are owing to this
madness of malice, this hatred of God in the hearts of
evil angels, who were cast out from heaven and the re-
gions of happiness. They began to exert this malice
early ; and still they are everlasting tempters of men,
in order to avenge themselves upon a righteous God.
But alas ! what a wretched satisfaction must the
damned spirits of men propose to themselves in such a
wild and extravagant attempt? The very name and
mention of this iniquity seems to put our souls and our
ears to pain, while we dwell in flesh and blood ; but as
cursed and hateful a temper as this is, it is the very
spirit and temper of apostate angels ; and this will be
S7f^ THE NATURE OF THE
thy temper and tliy spirit, O wilful and impenitent sin-
ner, when thou shalt have obstinately sinned thyself
into damnation, and canst never deliver thyself from the
punishing hand of God.
Think, O my soul, at what a dreadful distance such
creatures must be from every glimpse of peace and hap-
piness, whose hearts are filled w itli such blasphemy and
rage, and who w ould be attempting such vain and impi-
ous efforts of mingled insolence and madness. Read,
O ye foolish and wilful ti-ansgressors, read the temper
and conduct of devils in their spite and opposition to
every thing of God, through all the books of the Old
Testament and the New, and remember and think, that
such will your temper be, when you also shall be ban-
ished from the presence of God for your wilful rebellions,
as the fallen angels are, and be for ever shut out from
all the blessings of his love, and all hope of his favor.
IV. A further spring of continued torment is such
fixed and eternal hardness of heart, as will never be soft-
enedy such impenitence and ohstinacy of soul which will
vever relent or submit. The hardest sinner here on
earth may now and then feel a relenting moment ; and
the most daring atiieist may sometimes have a softening
tliought come across him, which may perhaps bring a
tear into his eyps, and may form a good wish or two in
liis soul, and wring a groan from his heart which looks
like repentance ; but when we are dismissed from this
body, and this state of trial and of hope, eternal [lardness
seizes upon the mind. The neck is like an iron sinew
hardened more, if I may so express it, in the fire of hell.
The will is fixed in everlasting obstinacy against God,
and against the glories of his holiness. If Moses and
the prophets, if i hrjst and his apostles, in the ministry
of the word, could not soften the heart of bold transgress-
ors, what can be expected when all the means of grace,
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL, 373
and the methods of divine compassion are vanished and
gone for ever ?
It is granted, indeed, there vvdll be bitter repentance
among the damned in hell, and in^^ard vexation uf j-oul
and self-cursing in abundance, for having plunged them-
selves into this misery, and having abandoned all the
otters of divine mercy. But it will be only such a re-
pentance as Judas the traitor felt, when he rpjjented and
hanged himself. This is a sort of madness of rage
within them for having made themselves miserable. But
there will be found no hatred of the evil of sin, as it is an
offence against God, no painful and relenting sense of
their iniquity, as it has dishonored God, and broken his
law, no such sorrow for sin as is attended with an hearty
aversion to it, and a desire to love God and ob,ey him ;
but rather they will feel and nourish a growing aversion
to God and his holiness.
Ask yourselves, my young friends, did yo^i never feel
your hearts indulging an angry and unrelenting mood,
and stubborn in your wrath against a superior who had
sharply reproved you ? Or have you never felt an ob-
stinate and unreconcilable hour in your younger years,
even against a parent who had severely corrected you ?
Or have you not found at some seasons, your soul rising
and kindling into violent resentment and a revengeful
temper against your neighbor, upon some supposed
aft ront, damage, or mischief, he had done you? Call
these unhappy minutes to mind, and learn what hell is.
Think into what a wretched case you would be plunged,
if this wrath and stubbornness, this enmity and hardness
should become immortal and unchangeable, though it
were but against a neighbor. But if this obstinacy and
stubborn hardness of soul were bent against God himself,
so that you would never relent, never sincerely repent
of your crimes, nor bow, nor melt, nor yield either to his
majesty or his mercy, what would you think of your-
374i THE NATURE OP THE
selves and of your state ? Would you not be wretched
and horrible creatures indeed^ without the least reason
to hope for favor and compassion at his hands? Such
is the case probably of every damned sinner. Amazir>g
scene of complicated misery and rebellion 1 A guilty
spirit which cannot repent ! A rebellious spirit which
cannot submit, even to God himself ! A liardened soul
that cannot bend nor yield to its Maker ! Must not
such a wretch be for ever tlie object of its own inward
torment, as well as of divine punishment ? O the hope-
less and dreadful state of every bold transgressor, that is
gone down to death without true repentance ; for sincere
and true repentance for having offended God, and ingen-
uous relentiugs of heart for sin, are never found in those
regions of future misery ! No kindly meltings of soul
toward God, are ever known there.
V. There wdll be also intense sorrow and wild impa-
tience at the loss of present comforts, without any recom-
pense, and without any relief If this world, O sinful
creature, with the riches, or the honors, or the pleasures
of it be all thy chosen happiness, what universal grief
and vexation will overspread all the powers of thy nature,
when thou shalt be torn away from them all, even from
all thy happiness by death, and have nothing come in
the room of them, nothing to relieve thy piercing grief,
nothing to divert or amuse this vexation, nothing to sooth
or ease this eternal pain at the heart?
And yet farther, when thou shalt be as the prophet
speaks, like a ivild hull in a net, struggling and tossing
to and fro to free thyself on all sides, when thou shalt
be racked with inward fretfulness and impatience, and
full of the fury of the Lord that made thee, and the re-
buke of that God that punishes thee ; Isa. li. 30 ; then
shall thy heart, hard as it is in an obstinate course of sin,
be ready to burst and break, not with penitence, but
madness and over-swelling sorrows. And yet it must
PUNISHMENTS OP IlfcLL. 37^
not break nor dissolve, but will remain firm and hard
for ever to suifer these pangs. This is and must be an
eternal heart-ache, for there are no broken hearts in hell
in any sense whatsoever. There the eyes are weeping,
and the hands are wringing, and the tongue almost dried
with long wailings and outcries, and the teeth gnashing
with madness of thought. This is our Saviour's fre-
quent representation of hell, there shall be weeping and
wailing; and gnashing of teeth ; and yet the heart ever
living and ever obstinate, to supply fresh springs of these
sorrows, and to feel the anguish of them all.
VI. There will be also ras,ing desires of ease and
pleasure ichich shall never be satisfied, together with
perpetual disappointment and endless confusion thrown
upon all their schemes and their efforts of hope. It is
the nature of man, while it continues in being, that it
must desire happiness, and make some efforts towards it.
And some divines have supposed, that men of wicked
sensuality and luxury in this world, have so drenched
their souls in fleshly appetite by indulging their lusts, and
placing their chief satisfaction and happiness therein,
that they will carry this very temper of sensuality with
them into the world of spirits ; and it is possible their
raging appetites to this sensual happiness, may be in-
creased while there are no objects to gratify them. Now
if this be the case, it must be intense and constant misery
to feel eternal hunger with no bread to relieve it ; keen
desire of dainties with no luxurious dishes to please their
humorous taste ; eternal thirst without one drop of wine
or water to allay or cool it ; eternal fatigue and weari-
ness without power to sleep, and eternal lust of pleasure
without any hope of gratification.
But if we should suppose these sensualities die together
with the body, yet this is certain, the soul will have
everlasting appetites of its own ; that is, the general de-
sire of ease and happiness, and of some satisfying good :
S76 ^ THE NATURE OF THE
but God, who is the only true source of happiness to
spirits, the only satisfying portion of souls, is for ever
departed aud gone ; and thus tlie natural appetite of fe-
licity will be ever wakeful and violent in damned spirits,
while every attempt or hope to satisfy it will meet with
perpetual disappointment.
Milton, our English poet, has represented this part of
the misery of devils in a beautiful manner. He supposes,
that ever since they tempted man by sin^ by the forbid-
den tree of knowledge, they are once a year changed
into the form of serpents, and brought by millions into a
grove of such trees, wiih the same golden appearance of
fruit upon tliem. Aud while with eager appetite they
seize those fair appearances to allay their thirst and hun-
ger, instead of fruit they chew nothing but bitter ashes,
and reject the hateful taste with spattering noise ; and
still they repeat their attempts with shameful disappoint-
ment, till they are vexed, are tormented, aud torn with
meagre famine, and then are permitted to resume the
shape of devils again. And why may we not suppose,
that the crimes of which the wicked children of men
have been guilty in the present life, may be punished
with some such kind of pain and confusion, both of holy
and soul, as is here represented in this poetic emblem of
parable ?
YII. Another misery of damned creatures is, that
vexing envy which arises against the sairds in glory, and
tvhich shall never be appeased or gratified. The blessed
in heaven shall be for ever blessed, and the envy of
devils and damned souls shall never hurt their felicity,
nor see their joys diminished. This vile passion of
those cursed spirits therefore against the blessed inhabi-
tants of heaven, tlu)ugh it rage never so high, is only
preying upon their own hearts, aud increasing their own
inward anguish.
Let us imagine how many thousand holy souls are
PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. §77
arrived safe at paradise, who were surrounded with
mean and low circumstances here upon earth, while their
haughty lords, and their rich, insolent neighbors, have
sinned themselves into hell. And do you think those
children of pride can ever bear this sight without envy ?
How many martyrs have ascended to glory from racks,
and tortures, and fires, here upon earth, while their
bloody and cruel persecutors have been working out
their own damnation by these inhuman acts of murder
and cruelty ? And will not these wretches, under their
righteous sufferings and punishttients in hell, envy the
creatures whom they have scorned, and oppressed, and
murdered here on earth, when they shall see them
placed on high seats in the kingdom of heaven, and
themselves cast into utter darkness ?
And wh.it does all this envy do but increase their
own wretchedness ? They are distracted witii pride and
rage, to think of these high f ivors of the blessed God
bestowed on creatures whom they treated once with ut-
most disdain. But their envy, like a viper, preys upon
their own entrails, and shall never be allayed or made
easy. They send a thousand curses up to the heavenly
world ; but the saints are for ever secured in happiness,
nnder the eye of God their heavenly Father, and the
care of Jesus tlieir almighty friend.
O what a painful plague must this envy be, when with
all her envenomed whips and stings she does but scourge
and torment the lieart where she dwells ? What an un-
speakable torture must it be to feel this envy so violent
and so constant, that it gives itself no ease through ever-
lasting ages ? Who is there that dwells in flesh and
blood can conceive or express the horror and the twing-
ing agonies tliat arise from such a hateful passion, fer-
menting and raging through all the powers of the soul ?
VIII. The last thing 1 shall mention, as part of
those punishments of hell which affect the spirit^ is a
48
378 THE NATURE OF THE
perpetual expectation and dread of new and increasing
punishments without ejid ; and it is highly probable,
that this shall be tlie portion of multitudes. When the
souls of the saints are released by death, and arrive at
the blessed regions, they are not vested w^ith all their
brightest glories in a moment, nor fixed in the highest
point of knowledge and happiness at their first entrance;
but as their knowledge and their love increases, so their
capacities are enlarged to take in new scenes and new
degrees of pleasure ; and it is proba!)le that their felicity
shall be ever increasing. And in the same manner, it is
not unlikely, that the increasing sins, the growing wick-
edness, and mad rebellion of damned spirits, may bring
upon them new judgments and more weighty vengeance.
So it was with Pharaoh, the Egyptian tyrant, when he
remained obstinate and rebellious against the messages
of God by Moses, even while he and his nation lay un-
der smarting scourges of the Almighty. How did his
plagues increase witli his iniquities ? And he may be
set before us as an emldera of sinners, and their suffer-
ings, under the wrath of God in hell, as in Romans ix.
17, 18.
Or perhaps as the wicked of this world when they
die, have left evil and pernicious examples behind
them, or have corrupted the morals of their neiglibor?:
by their enticements, or their commands, or by their
wicked influence of any kind, so tlieir punishment may
be increased in proportion to the lasting elTects of their
vile example, or their vicious influences. And perhaps
too, there are none amons; all the ranks of the damned,
Vi^hose souls will be filled so high with the dread and
horror of increasing woes, as lewd and profane writers,
profane and immoral princes, or cruel persecutors of re-
ligion. Jeroboam, the king, not only sinned himself
grievously, but ivho made Israel to sin, as the scripture
frequently expresses it with an emphasis, by setting up
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 379
the idolatry of calves in the land ; i Kings xiv. and xv.
and xvi. His ghost stood fj^ir for such an increase of tor-
ment from age to age, as his idolatry prevailed further
in the land. And all the wanton poets and the vile
persecutors, whether of heathen or of christian name,
whose writings, whose example, or whose laws have
conveyed and propagated their wickedness from age to
age after their decease, will be some of these wretched
expectants of new and increasing punishment.
Have a care, O ye witty and ye mighty sinners ! Have
a care of setting vile temptations and bad examples be-
fore the men of your age ! Have a care of spreading the
contagion of your vices around jou, by the softness and
force of your allurements ! Have a care of establishing
iniquity by a law, and propagating loose and wicked
opinions, or of encouraging persecution for conscience
sake ! Take heed lest the cursed influence of your
crimes should descend from generation to generation
among the living, long after you are dead, and should
call for new and sharper strokes from the punishing
hand of the Almighty !
But suppose there were nothing else but the long
dreadful view of the eternity of their present miseries,
with an everlasting despair of ease or deliverance, this
would add unspeakably to their torment. The constant
sensation of what they feel now, and the dread of what
they must feel; is sufficient to make tlieir wretchedness
intolerable.
If all these springs of misery, which I have already
mentioned, are, and will be found in the souls of
damned sinners, there is no need of more to make them
exquisitely miserable. And yet, since their bodies shall
be raised from the dust, in order to be joined with their
souls in punishment, as they were united in sin, why
may we not suppose, that the great God will create
bodies for them of such an unhappy mould and contex-
380 THE NATURE OF THE
ture, as shall be another perpetual source of pain and
anguish ? What if their bodies shall be raised with all
the seeds of disease in them, like the gout or the stone,
or any more smarting malady ? And what if the smart
of these bodily distempers should mingle with the raging
passions of the mind, as far as it is consistent with im-
mortality and everlasting duration? Who c>jn say, that
when God exerts his power, and makes his icrath known,
in punishing obstinate, rebellious, and impenitent sin-
ners, as Romans ix. he will not frame such bodies for
them to dwell in, as shall be a hateful burden, and an
incessant plague to them through all ages of tneir dura-
tion ? And perhaps these bodily pains may be also in-
cluded in the metaphor of a gnawing worm I)red within
them, it'hich shall never die, which shall never cease to
fill them with grievous anguish.
Here, perhaps, it may be inquired, are there not mul-
titudes of men in vhis world, who are not sinners of the
grosser kind, but have lived, in the main, in the practice
of common social duties, and have maintained the usual
forms of religion, according to t'.ie outward rules of the
gospel, and the custom of their nation, bi-t they have
been negligent indeed of any sincere repentance towards;
God, and have been strangers to inward, vital religion
throughout their whole course ? Shall these creatures,
who seem to stand in a sort of indifferent character, who
are out\vardly blameless, with regard to common mo-
rality, and have exercised the common virtues of justice
and benevolence towards their fellow-creatures, perhaps
under the influences of education or custom, or perhaps
by the effect that reason or philosophy, or otlier inward
fears, have had toward the restraint of their passions and
appetites ; I say, shall such sort of creatures as these be
filled with those furies of rage and resentment against
God, envy and malice toward their fellow-sinners, and
all the vile and unsociable passions in these regions of
PUNISHMENTS OF HF.LL. 381
misery, which they have never found working in them
here on earth, or hut in a low degree ? Shall all the tor-
ments and inward anguish of soul tiiat you have heen
describing, fall upon tliis rank of sinners, whom the eye
of the world could hardly distinguish from good men,
and who were very far from the character of wicked ?
*Bnsiver 1. That however there may seem to be three
sorts of persons in our esteem, viz. the good, the had^
and the indifferent, yet the word of God seems to ac-
knowledge but two sorts, viz. those who fear God and
serve him, and those who fear him not ; Mai. iii. 18 ;
those who have acted from principles of inward religion,
or the love of God, and those who had no such principle
within them. And therefore the scripture reveals and
declares but two sorts of states in the future world, viz.
that of rewards and punishments, or that of happiness
and misery. And as God the rigliteons Judge is inti-
mately acquainted with all the secret principles and
workings of every heart, he alone knows who have
practised virtue sincerely from pious principles, and
who have had no such principles within them. He well
distinguishes who they are that have complied with the
rules of the dispensation under which they have lived,
or who have not complied with it. And such as may
have the good esteem of men, may be highly offensive
to God, who knows all things, and may be worthy of
his final punishment. The Judge of the whole earth
will do right. ^
And since he has declared it to be his rule of judg-
* It has been the opinion of some writers in older and in latter times, that
the vast numbers of indifferent persons, who have neither been evidently lioly
or evidently wicked, shall be sent to a new state of trial in the other world .
but I can find nothing of this doctrine in the Bible, nor any hint of it, unless
in that obscure t^xt of St. Peter . 1 Epistle iii. chapter 19, where Christ is
said to go and preach to the spirits of those sinners who were drowned in
the flood ofNoah, which may be construed to another sense with truth and
justice.
1
383 THE NATURE OP THE
ment, that lie will reward every one according to their
icorksj Mu\ it shall be much more tolerable for some of
tliose creatures than it shall be for others, by reason of
their lesser crimes, or their nearer approaches to virtue
and piety, so it is certain he will act in perfect justice
and equity towards every criminal ; and none shall be
punished above their demerits, though no impenitent
sinner shall go unpunished.
We do not therefore imagine, that every condemned
criminal shall have the same degree of inward raging
passions, the same madness and fury against God and
their fellow-creatures, nor the same anguish of conscience
as those who have been more grossly and obstinately
wicked and vicious, and have wilfully refused and re-
nounced the well known oflTers of grace and salvation.
Tiiere are innumerable degrees of inward punishment
and pain, according to the degrees of sin.
Answer 2. It should be added too, that that world of
punishment is also a world of increasing wickedness ;
and those that have had some natural virtues, and some
appearances of goodness here, may and will renounce
it all in the world to come, where they find themselves
punished for their impenitence and irreligion, and their
criminal neglect of God and godliness. And the least
and lightest of the punishments of damned souls will be
terrible enough, and yet not surpass the desert of their
offences. Tliey have been all in greater or less degrees,
treasuring up food for this immortal worm, and fuel for
this fire, which is unquenchable.
Besides, it may be added here, that in tlireatenings the
holy scripture generally expresses them in their highest
degrees, and most formidable appearances, on purpose
to secure men from coming near the peril and border of
them.
This shall suffice to explain the first part of the meta-
phor in my text, that is, The worm that dieth not.
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 383
SECTION II.
Tlie fire shall not be quenched.
I proceed now to consider tlie second part of the de-
scription of hell in the nature of it, as it is represented
by our Saviour ; and that is, that the fire is never
quenched.
Fire signifies the medium or instrument of torture
from without, wiiich God has threatened to employ in
the punishment of guilty creatures, even as the gyiaicing
worm signifies their inward torment. Fire applied to
the sensible and tender parts of the flesh, gives the
sharpest pain of any thing that comes within our com-
mon notice ; and it is used in scripture to signify the
punishments of damned sinners, and the wrath of God
in the world to come. And perhaps that text is the
foundation of it, Isai. xxx. last verse ; Tophet is or-
dained of old ; he has made it deep and large ; the pile
thereof is fire and much icood ; and the breath of the
Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. Tiils
tophet was a place in tlie valley of Hinnon, where
children were wont to be bursit in sacrifice to the idid
Moloch ; and from these Hebrew words, hell, in tie
New Testament is called Geenna, because of the burn-
ing torture and the terrible shrieks of dying children in
this valley of Hinnon.
This description of hell by fire is used by our Sav-
iour and his apostles, in their speeches and writings on
this subject. Hell fire is mentioned six times in six
verses where my text lies ; the last sentence of judg-
ment pa«>sed upon sinners, as it is represented hy our
Saviour, is expressed in the same language ; Matt.-
XXV. Depart, ye cursed, into everlastini^ fire. The
apostle Paul, speaking of the return of Christ,- 3 Thess.
i. 8, asserts, that he shall appear in fiamingfivef to take
384 THE NATUliE OF THE
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not
the gospel. And in Rev. xiv. 10, 11, as well as in
other parts of this book, the final punishments of sinners
is represented hy Jive and brimstone, as the instruments
of their torment.
It is true, indeed, spirits or beings which have no
body cannot feel burning by material fire, unless they
are united to some sort of material veliicles ; but that
God will use material fire to punish obstinate and rebell-
ious sinners hereafter at the resurrection, is not improb-
able, though it is very hard to say with full assurance.
Since the bodies of the wicked are to be raised again,
it is not at all unlikely that their habitation shall be a
place of fire, and their bodies may be made immortal to
endure the smart and torture without consuming. Did
not this God, by his almighty power and mercy, preserve
the bodies of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego. in the
burning furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, so that the fire had
110 power to consume or destroy them ? And cannot
his power do tlie same thing under the influence of his
justice as well as of his mercy ? May they not be
maintained for ever in their existence, to endure the ap-
pointed and deserved vengeance? If the blessed God
has with much long suffering borne irith these vessels of
wrathj under their repeated oppositions to his law and
gospel, and they still go on in their vice, obstinacy, and
impenitence, and Uavejitted themselves for destruction,
surely he will make his wrath and power known in their
punishment, as St. Paul expresses it, Rom. ix. ; and
when the power and wrath of a God unite to punish a
creature, how miserable must that creature be ?
It is certain that God has been pleased in his word
frequently to make use ofjire, brimstone, burning^smoak,
darkness, and chains, and every thing that is painful
and noisome to nature on earth, in order to represent the
miseries that he has prepared for sinners in hell. And
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 385
we must suppose that all these metaphors, if they are
but mere metaphors, carry with them a sense of most
intense pain and anguish, with which God will afflict
the bodies, as well as the spirits of those guilty creatures,
who have rebelled against his majesty, rejected his
mercy, and exposed themselves to his indignation. But
what particular instruments and methods of punishment,
what other elements or means of torture the great God
will make use of to execute his sentence in this tremend-
ous work, is more than we can now declare, because
God has not fully declared it. And I pray God none
of us may be ever doomed to learn it by terrible expe-
rience. But if there be nothing but jire^ the anguish
will be intolerable, as one of our poets expresses it,
In liquid burnings, or on dry, to dwell.
Is all the sad variety of hell.
Or what if the Almighty, who has all nature, with all
its powers, at his command, should employ other mate-
rial instruments for the execution of his deserved wrath ?
What if he should choose the alternate extremes of fire
and frost, as some have imagined, to torment those im-
penitent criminals ? Or what if the creatures which they
have abused to their impious and brutish purposes,
should be made instruments and mediums of their pun-
ishment ? Wine may be rendered a frequent means of
sickness, agony and pain to the drunkard, and meat and
other dainties to the glutton, and gokl to the covetous
wretches who made gold their god, that they may all
remember their crimes in their sufferings. The wisdom
of God will execute the sentence of his justice in the
most honorable manner.
And after al], if we call away our thoughts from fire,
and every material instrument of pain, which ths great
God may employ in punishing obstinate rebels, and
survey only those acute and dreadful impressions of
horror and anguish, which a just and holy God may
49
386 THE NATURE OF THE
make on sinful spirits in an immediate manner in helly
this would overwhelm our souls with insupportable ag-
onies. Who knoics the power of thine anger 9 For
according to thy fear, so is thy wrath, says Moses,
Psalm xc. Our fears do not rise above those evils
which the wrath of God will inflict. Who knows what
are those arrows of the Mmighty, of which Job speaks.
the poison whereof drank up his spirits, and those ter-
rors of God which set themselves in array against him P
Who knows what our Saviour felt in the hour of his
agony and atonement for our sins, which made him
sweat drops of blood ? And what sort of terrible im-
pressions God himself may make of his own wratli and
yengeance, on tlie heart of such criminals as wilfully
reject his salvation, is beyond our thoughts to conceive,
or our language to express.
This much shall suffice concerning the metaphor of
jire, and the hand of God himself in kindling this fire
for the execution of his sentence against impenitents.
But since I have entered so far into this sul)ject, I can-
not think it proper entirely to finish it, without giving
notice of some different and dreadful additions to their
torment, which will arise from evil angels, and from
their companions in sin and misery among the cliildrcn
of men ; for in the agonies of our Saviour, men and
devils joined together to afflict him, Avhen it pleased the
Father to bruise him, and to make his soul an offering
for our sins.
I. Evil angels, wicked and unclean spirits, with all
their furious disjwsitions and active power's, ivill in-
crease the misery of the damned. They paved the way
to hell for man, by the first temptation of our parents in
paradise ; and they have been ever since busy in tempt-
ing the children of men to sin, and they will be hereafter
as busy in giving them torment. When these wicked
spirits, O sinner, who have taken thee as a willing cap
PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 387
tive by their baits and devices in this world, when they
have led thee down through the paths of vice to the re-
gions of sorrow, they will begin tlien to insult thee with
Iiateful reproaches, and to triumph over thee with inso-
lence and scorn. When they have deceived thee on
-earth, to thy own perdition, they will make thee the
object of their bitter ridicule and mockery in hell.
O could we turn aside the veil of the invisible world,
and hold the bottomless pit open before you, what bitter
groans of ghosts would you hear, not only oppressed
and agonizing under the wrath of a righteous God, but
also under the insults of cruel devils ? As there is joy
among the angels of heaven when a sinner rejje^its, or
when a soul arrives safely at those blessed mansions,
so when a rebellious and obstinate criminal is sent down
to hell, you would hear the triumphs of those malicious
spirits over him, with the voice of insulting pride and
hellish joy. And while they domineer over you, and
tear you as roaring lions, that seek and tear their prey,
you will curse yourselves a thousaud times, for hearken-
ing to their deceitful allurements. You will vent your
rage against yourselves, at the same time that they scoff
at you as eternal fools, who have lost a God, and a
heaven, and immortal happiness, by your own madness
and folly in hearkening to their temptations.
II. The mutual uphraidin2:s of fellow -sinners ancl
fellow-sufferers among the children of men, will aggra-
vate your tcretchedness day and night without end.
Those who drew each other into foul iniquities, shall
fill the ears of each other with loud and sharp reproaches
for their mutual influence on both their ruin ; and shall
charge their damnation, and all their heavy sorrows, as
a heavy load on each other's souls. Some of those who
have been joined in the nearest ties of kindred and
friendship, while they dwelt in flesh and blood, shall be
the terrible instruments of their keenest remorse and
388 THE NATURE OF THE
vexation, and tease their spirits with endless upbraid-
ings.
Here the sons of pride, that most hateful iniquity,
shall be overwhelmed with huge mortijfication and dis-
dain. The mighty sinner shall be insulted by the
meanest of the crowd ; and princes shall be bearded
and aifronted by those gay slaves of the court, whom
they once employed in flattering and adoring them.
They were once vain enough to believe they were
something more than mortal ; but now they are spurned
by those very flatterers with a foot of contempt ; and
their eternal pride still swelling, gives their own hearts
new stings and twinges at every resentment. None
but a proud and haughty creature here in this world,
who has sometimes met with scorn and insult from his
inferiors, can speak feelingly of the exquisite sensibility
of these torments of a soul in hell.
But besides this, there are many sinners who lived in
malice, and w ho died with their hearts full of revenge
against their fellow-sinners ; and when they shall meet
them in those deplorable regions, how natural is it to
suppose they will endeavor to execute this revenge upon
them without end and without mercy ? For it may be
easily supposed, that malice, revenge, and cruelty, which
are the proper character of devils, shall not be abated
among the children of men, when they are grown so
near akin in their tempers to those evil spirits, and are
now for ever ndngled amongst them.
And yet further, who knows what the damned in hell
shall endure from the endless brawls and bitter quarrels
among themselves ? What new contentions will arise
perpetually in such a country, where it is perhaps the
practice and custom of the place, and the nature of the
inhabitants, for the most part, to make every one of their
fellows as uneasy and as miserable as they can ? O
what mad and furious pride, and malice, and every hel-
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 389
lish passion, will be raging almost in every bosom
against all those who are near them, and this in a dark
prison where all are intensely tormented, and where
there is no such thing as compassion or sincere love,
nothing to sooth each other's sorrows, but every thing
that may add to the smart and anguish !
O that the present survey of these horrors of soul,
these complicated distresses and miseries from within
us and without us, from every quarter of heaven and
hell, from the gnawing worm within us, and from the
fire of the wrath of God, and the mutual insults, railings
and injuries of men and devils, might all lie with its
due weight upon our spirits now, while we are in the
land of hope ; that every one of us may be awakened to
a timely concern about our highest interest, and hasten
to make our escape as Lot did from Sodom, lest the
sentence of death be pronounced upon us while we de-
lay, and the fiery deluge overtake us.
But here I would tarry a little to answer a repeated
objection, viz. tiie terror of this outward punishment
from the hand of Grod, which is described by avenging
fire, is so severe and intolerable, that it awakens some
lesser criminals to raise the same cavil against this un-
quenchable fire, or God's punishing hand, as was raised
before against the never-dying worm, or the inward an-
guish of soul arising from its own conscience.
It is possible some lesser sinner, who has had more
appearances of piety or religion here on earth, may rise
and say, you have set the punishments of sin in a most
horrible and tremendous light, from this metaphor of fire,
as well as from the deathless worp. But surely this
cannot be the case, nor these the sufferings which God
will inflict on every wretched creature in hell. Are not
the punishments there proportioned to the offences ?
What if these sharpest and deepest tortures and horrors
should be the portion of the vilest criminals, tlie most
390 THE NATURE OF TIIE
impious rebels against God, the profane and obstinate
abusers of gracej the scoffers at Christ and his gospel,
and the cruel persecutors of all the saints, yet will every
soul who had not quite religion and holiness enough to
reach heaven, *be thus terribly tormented in hell ? Does
not Clirist himself tell us, and did you not allow before,
that it siiall be more tolerable for some sinners than for
others ? And will there be no easier abodes, no milder
regions, no kinder and more favorable appointments for
such as have many good wishes and hopes, many friend-
ly exercises of virtue toward men, and some workings
of imperfect piety toward God?
To this I answer, as before, it is certain that every
one shall be judged according to their works ^ by an un-
erring rule of equity, and shall be punished according to
the aggravation of their iniquities. But dost thou know,
O sinner, how great is that punishment which the least
transgression against the law of God deserves ? One sin-
gle sin, which thou Avilt not part with, will create insuf-
ferable misery. And though there may be other criminals
there of much more heinous and aggravated guilt, pro-
fanencss, and rebellion than thine is, yet if thy soul be
filled with all that torment which one sin may create and
deserve, there will be hell enough around thee to make
thy distress too terrible for thee to bear.
Besides, let it be remembered, that whatsoever ten-
dencies toward piety, or appearances of goodness, might
be found with thee in this world, all these will vanish
and be lost, when once thy day of grace is finished, and
all the means of grace and salvation are ended for ever.
If (hou hast refused tlie proposals of mercy, and contin-
ued in thy sins without repentance, and hast never
accepted the salvation of Christ while it was offered, all
the good that thou seemedst to have' shall be taken from
thee ; Matt.f xxv. 29 : or rather tliy heart itself will
i^row more hard, tby will more obstinate against God,
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL, SQL
and every evil passion will rise and prevail, and make
thee perhaps as very a devil as thy companions in guilt
and misery. It is for those who would not part with
their beloved sins, which were as dear as rigid hands
or as right eyes^ that tlie never-dying ivorm and the un-
quenchable tire are prepared, as the context itself informs
vis in this place.
And as the worm of conscience, even for lesser sins,
will gnaw thy heart witli intense anguish, so the ven-
geance of divine fire will torment thee with exquisite
pain, though thy pain and thy anguish shall not be equal
to what greater criminals endure. Eut it is wise and kind
in the blessed God to denounce the terrors and sanctions
of his law in their utmost severity, to guard liis law the
better against every transgression, and to frighten and
secure his creatures from sin and punishment.
Trifle not, therefore, O sinner, witli the means of
mercy, and venture not upon little sins, in hope of little
misery, nor dare to continue in an impenitent state with-
out God, without Christ and his salvation, upon a foolish
presumption that thy sins are but small, and thy punish-
ment shall be less than others. For the least of those
sorrows will be found greater than any mortal creature
can bear, and therefore thou shalt be made immortal to
suifer them.
It is granted, there are many mansions in hell, as well
as in heaven, but, as the lowest mansion in heaven is
happiness, so the easiest place in hell is misery.
There is another objection rises here, which it is ne-
cessary to give some answer to ; viz. if the punishments
of hell are so intense and terrible, betv/een the worm of
conscience, the fire of God's anger, and the malice of evil
spirits, surely it will work up human nature into ecstacy
and madness ; it will take away all the regular exercise
of our natural powers ; it will render us perhaps mere
passive miserable beings, of keen sensations without rea-
393 THE NATURE OF THE
soning. This is certain, that such and so various tor-
tures would have that influence upon our natures at
present, and why should it not hereafter ? And will the
blessed God continue to punish creatures when their
reason is lost ? What can such punishments avail ?
I ansiver, surely God will not continue to punish mad-
men ; therefore none of these torments shall extinguish
our reason, or destroy our intellectual powers ; for it is
as creatures of reason and free-will that sinners aretluis
punished, and therefore tliese powers must remain in
their proper exercise ; besides, the very operatians of
these powers in self-condemnation, and self-upbraiding,
are part of their punishment. But whether God will so
fortify the natures of the damned, which probably shall
not be made of flesh and blood, and enable them to bear
such intense pain without distraction, or whether the
highest extremes of their torment shall only be inflicted
at some certain periods or intervals, so that they shall
soon return to their reasoning powers again, with bitter
remembrance of what passed, this matter is hard to de-
termine ; and because it is unwritten and unrevealed, I
am silent. But it still remains, that punishment shall be
so intense and severe, as becomes a God of holiness and
justice to inflict on rebellious and obstinate creatures.
SECTION in.
Hefleetions on the nature of these punishments.
It is time now that we should proceed to form some
special reflections on the nature of the punishments of
hell, such as they have been describing in the foregoing
discourse.
The first is this, what dreadful and unknown evil is
contained in the nature of sin which grows up into such
misery, which breeds this stinging worm in the con-
science^ which prepares the creature for such fiery tor-
PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 393
ments, and wliich provokes a God to inflict them ? The
vessels of wrath have prepared themselves for it, as the
apostle intimates, by their own sins, Rom. ix. 3S, they
are jitted for destruction. Nor does all the intense and
infinite anguish of this punishment exceed the desert of
our sins. The great God, in a way of bounty, may often
bestow upon us vastly beyond what our little services
can ever pretend to have deserved, but he never punishes
beyond our deserts.
What a dangerous and pernicious mistake is it in the
children of men to sport with sin, as with a liarmless
thing? It is much safer sporting with a poisonous ser-
pent, or with burniug firebrands. The serpent has
many gay and pleasing colours on its skin, and appears
a very charming creature, which tempts children and
fools to play with it. And the same ignorance inclines
them sometimes to sport with fire, because of its shining
brightness ; and till they are burnt with the fire, or bit
by the serpent, they will not forsake their foolish choice,
nor be convinced of their danger. Such is the case and
temper of sinful mortals. Their senses indulge the
pleasing flatteries of sin, and are fond of its tempting
amusements, till they feel the smart of the fire raging in
their bosoms, and the adder stings them to death. Thus
the wise man describes the flatteries of wine in the view
of the drunkard ; Prov. xxiii. 31, 3^. But the same
wise man pronounces every one afoul that makes a mode
at sin, or trifles with so formidable a mischief; Prov.
xiv. 9.
How vain are the gay fancies of sinful men in the
hour of temptation ; and how shocking and dreadful
will be their disappointment ? They think the descrip-
tions of sin, which are blown up and kindled into such
terror by the lips of the preacher, are but as mockfire
which never burns ; but the great day of vengeance,
which makes haste towards them, w^ill terribly and eter-
50
394< THE NATURE OF THE
nally convince them of the fatal mischief of it, by the
various plagues that shall seize upon them. The living
ivorm shall gnaw their consciences, and the fire of God
will torment their spirits, and spread a raging anguish
through their whole natures ; and every twinging accent
of their pain shall teach them, but with a terrible and
hopeless conviction, what U7ispeakahle evil is contained
in sin. They will then find vf\mi a fearful thing it is
to fall into the hands of the living God, who has a right,
and power to, and will punish ; Heb. x. 31.
O that each of us might arrive at this holy wisdom, to
learn the dreadful evil of sin from this Bible, this book
of the divine law and grace, and not provoke the blessed
God to teach us so necessary a lesson by the rod of his
vengeance ! O that we could look upon every unlawful
action, and particularly every sin against conscience, as
the seed of that worm which will gnaw our souls in hell
with intense pain, as part of that fuel which is kindling
into a flame to torment our consciences for ever ; and thai
under the powerful influences of these representations of
sin, we might fly to the utmost distance from it with hor-
ror, and make our safe escape !
Reflection II. If the punishments of liell, appointed
by the blessed Gotl, carry so much terror in tliem, how
much mistaken are the sinful children of men in the
ideas which they form of the great and blessed God ?
This representation of the vengeance of tlie Lord in hell,
may be of use to refute such mistaken opinions.
Some have framed a god for themselves ; not such as
dwells in the heavens, not such as he has described him-
self in his word ; but their vain imagination has raised
up an idol made of mere goodness and mercy, witliout
holiness and justice. It is their own self-love which
forms this idle and foolish image of the God that made
them, because they do not like to think of falling under
the terror of his power. They venture to affront him to
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 395
his face ; they dare him to vengeance ; and as the writer
of the book of Job expresses it, tJiey stretch out their
hands against God ; they strengthen themselves against
the Almighty ; they run upon him with insolence, and
venture upon the thick bosses of his buckler ; Job xv. 25.
There are multitudes in our day that are arrived at such
a dreadful height of impiety, as to call upon him for the
damnation of themselves, as well as of their friends, in
sport and merriment. They will not believe that the
blessed God will ever be found so severe and formidable
as ■preachers describe him. And because judgment is
not speedily executed against the men of iniquity, there-
fore the sons of men have their hearts set in them to do
mischief. J[Iadness is in their hearts ; Eccles. viii. 11,
and ix. 3. Because God delays his indignation, they
will not believe he lias any belonging to him, notwith-
standing all the terrible words by which he is represented
by the prophets, the apostles, and the Son of God him-
self. And while they rush boldly on those crimes which
God has severely forbidden, they are ready to think
God is just such an one as themselves, regardless of vir-
tue and government ; Psalm 1. SI. And because they
make nothing of sin, they imagine God will make
nothing of it.
O that the sons of men would once learn to know God
better, for there are many icho have not the true knowl-
edge of God, I speak it to their shame, when they fancy
he is all made up of gentleness and forbearance, without
lioliness and justice ! Alas, sirs, these attributes are as
necessary in a God, as giace and compassion. He is,
and he must be a wise, a righteous Governor of the
world ; and his wisdom requires that impenitent sinners
should be punished, to secure the honor of his law, and
to guard his gospel from contempt.* These awful per-
* A governor made up of mere goodness and mercy, could be no governor
at all ; for it is absurd to call tbat a government, where every subject may do
396 TKE NATURE OF THE
fections of the blessed Grod are as necessary to vindicate
liis authority and his government from insult and rebell-
ion, as his goodness is needful to encourage sinful crea-
tures to repent and return to their duty. The word of
Ood expressly tells us, he is a God of holiness^ and a
consuming fire ; Heb. xii. 2Q ; but there is many a sin-
ner that will never learn this lesson till the torments of
liell teach it him by dismal experience. They have
trifled witli his majesty, and mocked at his threateniugs
all their life, till at the moment of death he awakes like
a lion, and tears tbeir spirits with everlasting anguisli.
1 might take notice also in this place, that there is
another mistaken notion of God, into which some persons
have unhappily fallen, as though God were the cause and
author of sin, and have spoken unadvisedly with their
lips, in such language as borders too near upon blas-
phemy. But it is evident, that a God, who will punish
the sins of men with such intense pain and torment, can
never be so inconsistent with himself, as to be the author
or cause of those sins. It is granted that his universal
providence has a concern in every thing tliat is transacted
among men ; but since he has informed us in what a
dreadful manner he will execute his vengeance against
sinners in the w orld to come, it is insolence and indignity
against the blessed God, to represent him as introducing
sin into our world. Let God be true, though every man
he a liar ; let God be pure, and righteous, and holy,
though every man be found guilty and criminal ; other-
wise, how shall God judge the icorld ? How can he
inflict such torments on rebellious creatures, if he con-
what iniquity and mischief he pleases with impunit}'. The laws of such a
government would cease to be laws, and become mere rules and directions
for living, which every one might observe or not, just according to his incli-
nation. To say that it became the wisdom of God to threaten offenders, but
that his goodness will interpose in the end and hinder the punisliment, is to
say, that God is not wise, for if he were, he would certainly have, taken care
not to let those men into the secret. Bishop Hort's sermons, p. 315.
d
m
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 397
strain or influence them to practise this rebellion ? All
opinions therefore, that allow of such an inference, as
though God were the author of sin j must be pronounced
false and pernicious to men, as well as injurious to the
justice of God; for these notions throw a vile imputation
on the blessed Grod, and charge him with heinous insin-
cerity, to forbid the comraision of sin by all tliese terrors,
and yet suppose hira to influence men to the practice of
them.
Reflection III. How reasoyiahle is it for us to believe,
that such a hell as 1 have described, is prepared for im-
'penitent sinners, since there are so many appearances of
the beginnings of it here on earth ; so many indications,
and signs, and forerunners, of such misery and torment
inflicted on sinful men ? Survey the remarkable execu-
tions of God's judgments on the world in several ages
and nations ; look back to our first parents, who were
thrust out of paradise, the garden of pleasure, and ban-
ished from the gates of it for ever, upon the account of
the first sin ; and the entrance of it was guarded by a
flaming sword to forbid their return. Behold the flood
of watery vengeance in the days of Noah breaking up
from the vast caverns of the earth, and pouring down
from the windows of heaven to punish sin. Deep calls
unto deep in tlie tremendous noise of these waterspouts,
which spread death and desolation over the face of tlic
whole earth, because all flesh had sinned against God
their Creator. Turn your eyes to Sodom and Gomor-
rha, and the cities of the plain, suffering the vengeance
of heaven with lightning and devouring flre bursting
from the clouds to punish the unnatural crimes of that
country. See the fiery flying serpents, as the messen-
gers of divine anger, to punish the rebellion of the
Israelites in the wilderness. Mark what multitudes in
the camp of Israel received their mortal sting, and v/ere
given up to destruction and death. Cast your eyes
398 THE NATURE OF THE
abroad over the nations^ and wliat records have we of
all former ages, which do not manifest the vengeance
of God pursuing the iniquities of men, by wars, and
famines, and pestilences, and every thing that is bitter and
dreadful to human nature. See Jerusalem, the city of
God, all in flames, and the whole land of Judea laid
desolate with deepest distress, diffused and reigning
among all the inhabitants of it. Above a million of
them were actually slaughtered and consumed by famine
and sword, as a sacrifice to the anger of God, for their
long provocations, and the cruel, barbarous murder of his
Son Jesus. And when you have taken all these sur-
veys, then tell me if such terrors of the Lord do not give
us sufficient warning what unknown agonies and destruc-
tions may be expected by obstinate and impenitent sin-
ners from the hand of God, when the utmost limits of his
patience restrain his wrath no longer, but his wisdom
gives a loose to all his fiery indignation.
To enforce this yet upon your hearts, think again of
all the pains and torments of flesh and spirit, which arise
from the distempers of body, and from tlie anguish of
soul, even in this present state of trial, this land of hope,
this season of divine long-suffering. Go to the hospi-
tals where the gout, and stone, and rheumatism, and a
thousand maladies torture the nerves and the joints of
men with intolerable smart, and infer thence what God
will inflict both on the flesh and spirit, or the soul and
body of sinners, in the day of his complete vengeance,
when his offers of mercy and the years of his grace are
come to their last period. Go and survey the flelds of
battle and slaughter, where tliousands of the dead and
the dying are mingled in confused heaps, and groan out
their souls in long anguish and extreme torture, with
bruises and wounds, and all the smarting effects of the
instruments of war. Now if all these things come under
the conduct of divine providence in a sinful world, which
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 399
is yet in a way of hope, what may those resolved and
obstinate rebels expect, when all the doors of hope are
shut up for ever, and providence has nothing to do on
earth or in hell, but to execute the vengeance of a God.
Shall we take one step yet further, and think of the
inward pangs of conscience, which some awakened
criminals have felt in this life on the account of sin,
when the arrows of God have been shot into their souls,
and the poison thereof lies drinking up their spirits ?
Think what dreadful ferments of passion, and rage, and
hatred of God have been found in the hearts of some
sinful creatures, when they have grown mad with re-
venge against God, and against themselves, and envy
against all their fellow-mortals, who are not in the same
circumstances ; think yet again how terribly their misery
must be aggravated, when the torture of everlasting
despair attends all the rest of the pains and sorrows they
suffer ; and then say, if the description of a future hell
in the word of God may not be true and real. What
anguish beyond all the power of present thought and
language, may seize all the powers of wilful and impious
rebels against the authority and the mercy of God, when
all the stores of his vengeance that have been treasuring
up for many years, shall be poured out upon them with-
out any mitigation or mixture of mercy ?
Reflection IV. It is matter of surprise, and great
astonishment, that thousands and ten thousands of the
sinful cliildren of men, from day to day, and from year
to year, are walking on the borders of all this misery,
and yet are so thoughtless and unconcerned about it.
They carry peaceful and easy minds in the midst of this
dreadful danger ; and while they have all the symptoms
of the children of wrath upon tliem, they live without
fear, and make no eflbrt toward their escape. Wretched
creatures indeed ! who have a mortal disease upon them
that will breed this growing worm of conscience, that
400 THE NATURE OF THE
will grow up into all this anguish and distress, and yet
are senseless of their own peril, unacquainted with their
own state of soul, and are daily treading their earthly
rounds of business and of pleasure with a merry heart.
All the heavy artillery of divine vengeance is ready to
be discharged upon them as soon as the door of death
opens and lets them into the invisible world ; and yet
they walk on fearless and joyful, and have no guard or
defence from all this misery, besides their own vain
presumption. Stupid creatures, to lie down at night,
and awake in the morning witliin an inch of hell, and
yet secure and fearless ! Tliey live without God in the
world, and that even in this land of liglit and hope,
where he offers to visit them with all his graces ; and
yet they are hasting hourly to the eternal world, where
they must meet and beliold him in all his terrors.
Will nothing awaken you, O ye obstinate transgress-
ors against God, ye obstinate rejecters of his grace and
gospel ? Will nothing warn you to flee from the wrath
to come ? But just thus it was in the days of Noah.
The sinners of that generation would not hearken to
that preacher of righteousness ; and even when they
saw the clouds of heaven grow big and black over their
heads, and the rain began to be poured down from the
skies, little did they imagine that it would have drowned
the earth, till they were overwhelmed with the rising
destruction. And so shall it be in the days of the Son
of man, when all the warnings of the preachers have
been despised, and the tln-eatened vengeance of the book
of God derided, when they have set up for bold and
witty scotFers, and impudently demanded, ichere is the
jiromise of his coming ? Then shall the great and ter-
rible day of the Lord come, and pour out upon them the
full measure of wrath and indignation.
Is it not time, my friends, to bethink yourselves,
whether this be your case ? Is it not time for every
PUNISHMENTS IN HELL. 401
oue of US to examine our souls ? Am I exposed to this
danger? Am I every moment on the brink of this
misery, and yet content to continue so one night or one
day longer? Can I ever hope to escape the fury of a
God, while I thus abuse his patience ? Or can I have
any expectation of living with him as my God hereafter,
if I never seek after him here ? The face of God, as a
stranger in tiie world to come, carries infinite terrors in
it, and yet we are content to be strangers to him, and to
live without his acquaintance. The wrath of God abides
upon every man who is uiiregenerate in this life, and
who has not trusted in the name of the Son of God ;
John iii. 36 ; yet they are thoughtless of it, for they feel
it not ; but the moment wheu they shall awake into the
world of spirits, that wrath will be felt with sudden and
dreadful anguish, as a most insupportable burden, and
will crush all the powers of the soul into torment.
Mejlection V. It deserves, and it demands our highest
gratitude to the great God, our humblest acknowledg-
ments, and our most exalted praises to his majesty and
his mercy, that we who have long ago deserved this
misery, are not yet plunged into the midst of it ; that we
have not been entirely cat off from the land of hope, and
sent down to this destruction. Blessed be the name and
the grace of our God for ever and ever.
While there are thousands, who have been sent down
to the place of punishment, whence there is no redemp-
tion, before they had continued so long in sin as many
of us have done, what a peculiar instance is it of divine
long-suffering and goodness, that we are not actually
put under the sting of this living worm, under this fiery
vengeance from the hand of God ? What was there in
us that should secure us from this destruction, while we
continued in our state of guilt, rebellion and impenitence?
Have we not seen many sinners on our right hand, and
on our left, cut off" in their sins, and to all appearance
5i
40^ THE NATURE OP TItE
they seem to be sent down to tlie place of sorrows ?
What is it but the special mercy and distinguishing
favor of God that has dealt thus kindly with us, and
spared and saved us, week after week, and month after
month, while we continued in our iniquities, and has
given us space for repentance and hope ? What shall
we render to the Loi'd for all his patience and long suf-
fering, even to this day ? How often have we incurred
the penalty of the law of God, and the fiery sentence of
condemnation by our repeated iniquities, both against
the authority and the grace of God ? And yet we are
alive in his presence, and are hearing the words of hope
and salvation. O let us look back and shudder at the
thoughts of that dreadful precipice, on the edge of which
we have so long wandered. Let us fly for escape to
the refuge that is set before us, and give a tliousand glo-
ries to the divine jnercy that we are not plunged into this
perdition.
Reflection VI. Let us learn from this desciiption of
hell, and our imminent danger of it, the infinite value
and worth of the gospel of Christ; tiiis gospel which
calls us aloud to fly from the wrath to come, and points
out to us the only effectual way to escape it. What can
all the riches of the Indies do to relieve us under the
guilt and distress into which sin has brought us ? What
can the favor of princes, and the flattering honors of the
Avorld do to rescue us from this danger ? What can the
highest gust of sensuality, and tlie most exquisite de-
lights of flesh and blood do to secure us against this
overwhelming misery ? It is only the gospel of the
blessed Jesus is our refuge, and our safety from the tre-
mendous destruction.
What are the heights, and depths, and lengths of hu-
man science, with all the boasted acquisitions of the
brightest genius of mankind ? Learning and science can
measure the globe, can sound the depths of the sea, can
PUNISHMENTS IN HELL, 403
compass the heavens, can mete out the distances of the
sun and moon, and mark out the path of every twink-
ling star for many ages past, or ages to come ; but they
cannot acquaint us with the way of salvation from this
long, this endless distress. What are all the sublime
reasonings of philosophers upon the abstruse and
most difficult subjects ? What is the whole circle of sci-
ences which human wit and thought can trace out and
comprehend ? Can they deliver us from the guilt of one
sin ? Can they free us from one of the terrors of the
Almighty ? Can they assuage the torment of a wounded
spirit, or guard us from the impressions of divine indig-
nation ? Alas, they are all but trifles, in comparison of
this blessed gospel, which saves us from eternal anguish
and death.
It is the gospel that teaches us the holy skill to pre-
vent this worm of conscience from gnawing the soul,
and instructs us how to kill it in the seed and first
springs of it, to mortify the corruptions of the lieart, to
resist the temptations of satan, and where to wash away
the guilt of sin. It is this blessed gospel that clearly
discovers to us how we may guard againstr the fire of
divine wrath, or rather how to secure our souls from
becoming the fuel of it. It is this book that teaches us
to sprinkle the blood of Christ on a guilty conscience by
faith, that is, by receiving him as sincere penitents, and
thereby defends us from the angel of death and destruc-
tion. This is that experimental philosophy of the saints
in heaven, whereby they have been released from the
bonds of their sins, have been rescued from the curse of
the law, and been secured from the gnawing worm and
the devouring fire.
A serious meditation of hell in its exquisite pain and
sorrow, will enhance our value of the salvation of Christ,
and will exalt our esteem and honor of the love of God,
who has delivered us from eternal death. If we will
4)04) THE NATURE OF THE, &c.
but appoint our thoughts to dwell a little on the teiTors
and vengeance from wliich the blessed Jesus has rescued
lis by his glorious undertaking, if he will stretch the
powers of our souls, and survey the lengths, and the
breadths, and the depths of this distress and misery
which we have deserved, this will discover to us the
heights, and the depths, and the lengths of his love, who
submitted himself to the curses of the law of Grod, and
was made a curse for us, that he might redeem us to the
possession of an eternal blessing ; Gral. iii. ^3. This
M'ill shew us what exceeding riches of the grace of God
have been laid out upon us for our salvation. This will
spread before us the unmeasurable love of Jesus, which
has brought him down from the bosom of his Father
into such agonies as he sustained in the garden, and on
the cross, that he might rescue us from the wrath to come.
O what immense and endless debts of gratitude and love
are due from every ransomed sinner, who has been re-
leased from the bonds of his guilt, and from all this
wretchedness, by the love of God the Father, and the
grace of his Son Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and
honor, and most exalted praise^ for ever and ever!
Amen.
DISCOURSE XIIL
THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE PUN-
ISHMENTS IN HELL.
MARK ix. 46.
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
SECTION I.
Arguments to 'prove the 'perpetuity of hell.
WHEN the great and blessed God had a mind to
make known his wisdom, his power, and his] goodness
amongst creatures, he built this world as a tlieatre, in
whicli those perfections of his nature might be displayed
amidst the various work of his hands. He spread it
round with the blessings of life and pleasure, he over-
hung it with a canopy of skies and stars, arid placed the
glorious bodies of the sun and moon there, to appear in
there alternate seasons ; and even amidst the ruins
which sin has brought into this world, yet still every eye
may behold the traces of an almighty, an all -wise, and
a bountiful God.
When the same divine and sovereign Being designed
to exalt and diffuse the wonders of his grace among the
best of his creatures, he built a heaven for them, and
furnished it with unknown varieties of beauty and bless-
ing. And we would hope in our appointed season to be
raised to this upper world, and there to behold the riches
of divine magnificence and mercy, and to be sharers
thereof among the rest of the happy inhabitants.
But since sin and wickedness have entered into his
creation of men and angels, he saw it necessary also to
406
THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
display the terrors of his justice, and to make his wrath
and indignation known amongst rebellious creatures,
that he might maintain a just awe and reverence of his
own authority, and a constant hatred of sin through all
Jiis dominions. For this purpose he has built a hell, a
dreadful building indeed, in some dismal region of his
vast empire, where he has amassed togetliev all that is
grievous and formidable to sensible beings ; and wicked
spirits carry their own inward hell thither with them, a
hell of sin and misery ; and though he has sent his own
Son to acquaint us with the distresses and agonies of
that doleful world, and to warn us of the danger of
falling into it, yet if any of us should be so unhappy as
to continue in an obstinate state of impenitence and diso-
bedience to God, we shall be made to confess, by dread-
ful experience, that not one half hath been told us.
Therefore hath God set before us these terrors in his
word, that we might fly from this wrath to come, and
avoid these sufferings. And therefore do his ministers,
by his commission, proceed to publish this vengeance
and indignation of the Lord, that sinners might be awa-
kened to lay hold on the hope that is set before them,
and might be affrighted from plunging themselves into
this pit of anguish, whence there is no redemption.
We have taken a short survey of these miseries, in
the kind and nature of them, in some former discourses,
and we are now come to the last thing contained in our
Saviour's description of hell, and that is the perpetuity
of it. The misery is everlasting in both the parts of it,
for their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
The arguments which shall be employed to prove it, are
such as these.
^argument I. The express words of Christ and his
apostles pronounce these punishments eternal ; and
surely these words are given to be the foundation of our
faith and practice, and the rules of our hope and fear^
PUNISHMENTS IN HELL. 40/
My text seems to carry plain and unanswerable evidence
in it. Their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quench-
ed. And it is many times repeated in this chapter, and
that with a special accent on the eternal duration of it,
to make that circumstance of it more observed, and to
aggravate the terror. Such an awful repetition from the
lips of the Son of God should make the sound of the
vengeance dwell longer on the ear, and the threatening
sink deeper into tlie soul.
Let us next observe the final sentence which Christ,
as Judge, pronounces against impenitent sinners among
the sons of men, as well as against fallen spirits, in
Matt. XXV. It is this, depart, ye cursed, into everlast-
ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And as
soon as the sentence is pronounced, it is immediately ex-
ecuted, as our Saviour foretels, in the last verse. These
shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the
righteous into life eternal. What he pronounces as a
Judge, he foretels also as a prophet, that it shall be put
in execution.
The express word of God, in describing the punish-
ment of sinners by the pen of his two apostles, Paul and
John, declares the same thing ; S Thess. i. 9. They
shall be jJunished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord. And the book of tlie Revelation
gives us assurance, that these miseries shall have no
end. Rev. xiv. 10, 11 ; The antichristian idolaters,
who worship the beast, shall drink of the wine of the
wrath of God which is poured out without mixture
into the cup of his indignation, and shall be tormented
with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Lamb; and
the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and
ever. Jude, the apostle, bears his testimony in the same
manner, verse 6 ; tlie damned spirits, who kept not their
first station, are said to be cast down into hell, and bound
in chains of everlasting darkness. Now, suppose a
408 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
man plimged into a pit of thick darkness, by the com-
mand of God, and bound there with everlasting chains ;
what hope can he ever have of deliverance ?
And if Christ and his apostles, who were taught by
him and by his blessed spirit, assert this punishment
shall be eternal, who shall dare to contradict tliem ?
Who is there so rash and confident as to say, "This
torment shall not be everlasting, this worm one day shall
die, and this fire shall be quenched?" Does it not ap-
proach to the crime of contradicting the Almighty, and
the true God ?
Argument II. There is a sort of infinite evil in sin,
arising from the consideration of the person against
whom it is committed, that is, the great and blessed God ;
for every crime, according to the law of nations, and the
common sense of mankind, takes its aggravation from
the dignity of the person offended, as well as from the
heinousness of the act ; so reproaches or assaults against
a king, or a father, are much more criminal and heinous
than the same assaults or reproaches cast on an equal or
an inferior ; but all sin being an offence against God, an
infinite object, and a violation of his law, is a dishonor
of infinite Majesty, an affront to the divine authority,
and therefore its aggravations arise in that proportion to
a sort of infinity, and require an equal punishment. But
because the nature of a creature cannot suffer infinite
punishment in the intenseness of the pain, therefore he
must bear it to an injinite duration^ that is, to all ever-
lasting.
When divine justice pronounces a sentence against
the sinner, equal to the demerit of sin, it must be infinite,
that is, eternal ; and the sinner shall never be released
from the prison and the punishment, till he has jJdid the
utmost farthing ; Matt. ix. %o ; and till he has made
satisfaction to God, equal to his demands, and the de-
merit of the offence.
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 409
I know this argument is treated with much contempt
and derision among those of the moderns, who would
diminish the evil of sin, and shorten the punishment of
it. But it is much easier to ridicule it than to answer it.
A jest is no refutation. And after my best survey of it,
I think, without prejudice or partiality, the force of it
seems to me unanswerable as to the desert of sin ; and
I am not ashamed to employ it in the support of this
truth.
It is but a very feeble opposition can be made to it by
those who say, that if sin be counted an infinite evil,
and must have infinite punishment, then all sins are
equal, and will require equal punishment, for there are
no different degrees in infinity, or in things which are
infinite.
But our'Saviour has taught us, that there are certainly
various degrees of punishment as well as of sin. He
assures us, that it shall he more tolerable for the inhab-
itants of Sodom and Gomorrha, in the day of judgment,
than it shall be for Capernaum and Bethsaida, where he
had preached and wrought his wonders ; Luke x. 1:2, &c.
and the reason is plain, viz. because the sins of Sodom
were less than theirs.
And it is very easy to answer this pretence or objec-
tion about the equality of all sins ; for sins may have
different degrees of guilt and aggravation as to the act,
where the object is the same, whether this object be
finite or infinite, as the murder of a father or a king, is
a much greater crime than a reproach or slander cast on
the same persons. So the wilful hatred of God, and
blasphemy against him, with continued malice and pub-
lic, violent opposition to his name, or law, or gospel,
are far greater sins than a single neglect of his daily
worship for fear of persecution, or a distrusting his prov-
idence, tliough both have the same infinite Being, that
410 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
is, God, for their object ; and in this sense there is a
sort of infinity in each of the crimes.
And accordingly, punishments may be proportioned
to every crime, for they may differ greatly in the degree
of severity and torture, thougli they may be all equal or
eternal in the duration ; Sodom and Gomorrha, Caper-
naum and Bethsaida, may all suffer infinite or everlast-
ing sorrow, and yet the degrees of their pain may be
exceeding different all the while. They may have the
same infinity of duration, though very different as to the
intenseness or degree of the pain.
Argument III. If the iniquities committed in this
life were not punished with torment which is everlasting,
yet the damned in hell are ever sinning against God ;
and therefore they provoke the vengeance of God to
continue his punishing hand upon them for ever. The
law of God, in all its demands of duty, its prohibitions
of sin, as well as in its sanctions of punishment, continues
for ever in force in heaven, and earth, and hell ; and
we see not how it can be abrogated where it arises from
the very nature of God and a creature. And. cursed is
he that continues not in all things which the law re-
quires ; Gal. iii. Every new sin demands a new curse
and a new punishment ; and there is no reason which
forbids a righteous Governor to cease punishing, while
the rebellious creature will not cease to offend ; and es-
pecially while he maintains an everlasting enmity and
rebellion against the law of God liis Creator.
If there were any humble meltings of repentance in
the guilty soul ; if there were any sincere mournings in
the sinful creature for having offended his Maker ; if
there were any softness of heart, relenting under a sense
of the evil of sin, and returning to obedience and duty;
even this would not oblige a righteous and wise Govern-
or to forgive the criminal ; repentance is no compensation
for a wilful offence ; nor is it thought unrighteous or
PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 411
unwise for a prince to punish even a penitent offender
witli death.
But let us propose the case in utmost favor to a sinner
against the blessed God ; let us imagine that divine wis-
dom and €livine mercy perhaps might be supposed to
contrive and to offer some proposals to justice in a way
of compassion, and might inquire whether the sentence
of punishment could not be reversed, or the terror of it
relieved, or some new state of trial proposed. Let it be
added in favor of the criminal, that we do not find
through all tlie book of God the actual practice of true
repentance beginning among men, but it has been always
followed with proportionable degrees of compassion from
God. But on the other side, when there is notliing
found in the heart of a sinner but obstinacy, and malice,
and revenge, cursing and blasphemy against the Al-
mighty, without the least moving or melting into a gen-
uine penitence or holy sorrow, without any meek
submission to the majesty and justice of God, or humble
imploring his mercy, what reasonable hope can such
wretches have, that their chains of darkness should be
broken, and the prisoners released from the vengeance ?
When they shall curse his justice, because it punislies
their crimes, when they shall curse his mercy, because
it did not save their souls, and curse and blaspheme the
blood of the blessed Jesus, because it has not washed
away their sins, what possible excuse can be made for
such creatures ? Or what possible expectation can there
be for such criminals, but an everlasting continuance of
the fiery indignation ?
Here it will be replied, but why should we suppose,
and much more, why should we affirm, the damned will
■never repent ? Are they not free in the other world
from this flesh and blood, wherein there are so many
unruly passions and appetites ? Are they not far remote
from all the temptations of flesh and sense, of iatemper-
41S THE ETERNAL DURATION OP THE
ance, ambition, and covetousuess ? Have they not un-
derstanding to see divine truths more clearly than in this
world ? Have they not reason to distinguish good and
evil, and free vi^ill to choose that which is good ? Will
they not hate all sin, since they have been so long taught
the mischief of sin by their sufferings ? And is there
any thing titter than their agonies and torture by fire, to
make men know and feel the dreadful evil of sinning
against God, and awaken them to repentance ?
To this I answer. Let us judge a little concerning
the sinners in hell, by the pratice of sinners on earth.
How many wretched creatures are there who have been
long imprisoned, and perhaps punished for crimes
against the State, and yet persist in their rebellious tem-
per, and are never convinced they were in the wrong,
so far as to change their treason into sincere submission,
repentance, and obedience ? Was not Pharaoh, king of
Egypt, an instance of the stubbornness and impenitence
of human nature, when in opposition to ten dreadful
plagues he would still pursue the flying Israelites, and
destroy a people beloved of God ? Is not hardness and
enmity against the governor often increased by the severe
punishments that criminals lie under ? Have these pun-
ishments any sufficient power to soften their hearts into
true repentance?
What though they do not live in the midst of sensual
temptations, yet who knows how far their spirits, having
been immersed in flesh and blood, may carry witli them
inward raging appetites to those sinful sensualities and
defiling pleasures, of which they are for ever deprived ?
Let me ask again, have the devils ever repented in
almost six thousand years ? Are they not the same en-
emies to God, and his glory, and his image, through all
ages ? And though the damned spirits of men are ab-
sent from this world, and their evil companions on earth,
yet are they not in the fittest company to teach them
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 413
pride, and rage, resentment and malice, and the most
unfit to teach them Immility, repentance, and obedience
to God ? And when they have perversely sinned away
all the means of grace in this life, is it reasonable to ima-
gine, that God will powerfully soften their hearts by his
sovereign grace, since he has never given the least hint
or instance of it in all the discoveries made in the Bible ?
And has it not been often one way of God's punishing
sinners here in this world, by letting them go on in their
iniquity and madness to the end ? And why may not
the wisdom and justice of God see it fit to treat sinners
who have been incorrigible in this life, by the same
method in the world to come ?
^argument IV. The natural effects and consequences
of sin living in the soul, are misery and torment so long
as the soul lives, that is, for ever. Sin, though it be a
moral evil, as it is committed against God, yet it is such
an enemy to- the nature of man, that where it has' estab-
lished its habit and temper in the soul, it naturally pre-
pares constant anguish of conscience, and certain misery.
A wicked spirit all over averse to God and goodness,
gone fi'om this world and all the soothing or busy
amusements of it, intense in its desires of happiness, and
yet a stranger to all that call make it truly happy, and
at the same time shut out by God's righteous judgment,
from all the means and hopes of grace, must needs be
miserable, and has prepared a state of endless misery for
itself, because its nature and duration are immortal. An
nnholy creature who loves not God, and cannot delight
in things holy and heavenly, but derives its chief joy
from sinful pleasures, can never taste of felicity, can
never relish the satisfactions that come from the knowl-
edge, and love, and enjoyment of God ; and when it is
torn away, and banished from all the sensible amuse-
ments of this life, it must and will be a wretched creature
iu the world of spirits; and that by the very course of
4il4 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
nature. And God cannot be obliged to change the es-
tablished course of nature to relieve this misery which
the sinner had wilfully brought on himself ; nor can God
make him happy without giving him a new temper of
holiness^ which he is not obliged to do by any perfection
of his nature, or any promise of grace.
If the souls of men are immortal, such will their 'pas-
sions be, their desires, their fears, and their sorrows,
ISfow their natural desires of happiness, as I have said,
will be intense and strong, when God, the spring of all
happiness, who hath been renounced aud abandoned by
them, hath now for ever forsaken them, and separated
himself from them. What can there remain for them
but everlasting darkness and despair, without a dawn of
hope through all the ages of eternity ? Tlieir guilty con-
sciences, with the views of God's unchangeable holiness,
will for ever fill tliem with new fears and terrors, what
shall be the next punisliment they are to suffer. Such is
the state of devils at this time, who expect a more dread-
ful punishment at the great day, as several places of scrip-
ture make evident. Their being immersed in the guilt
of sin, and under the constant and tyrannical dominion
of it, will overwhelm them with present grief, with cut-
ting sorrows, and horror unspeakable, which will sink
into the centre of their souls, and make them an eternal
terror and plague to themselves.
Again, let us consider their immortality of soul will be
spent in thinking. And what comfortable or hopeful
object is there in heaven, earth, or hell, on which they
can fix or employ their thoughts for one moment, to give
a short release from this extreme misery ? So that they
are left in endless successions of most painful thoughts
and passions from the very nature of things.
Again, suppose tliis body of mine were by nature ira-
mortal, and was designed by my Creator in its constitu-
tion to live for ever ; and suppose by my own folly and
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 415
madness, my own wilful indulgence of appetite and pas-
sion, I had brought some dreadful distemper into my
flesh which was found to be incurable, whether it be the
gout or the stone, or some more terrible malady of the
nervous kind, must not tliis gout by necessity of nature,
become an immortal gout ? Must not these distempers
be immortal distempers, and create eternal pain? And
is the God of nature bound to work a miracle to cure and
heal these diseases which I have wilfully brought upon
myself by my own iniquities, and that after many warn-
ings ? Is it unrighteous in God to let me languish on
amidst my agonies and groans as long as my nature con-
tinues in being, that is to immortality ? And especially
when there are valuable ends in divine providence, and
God's goveniment of the world to be subserved, by suf-
fering such wilful, rebellious, and impenitent creatures
to become sacrifices to their own iniquities and his jus-
tice, and perpetual monuments to other worlds of their
own madness and his holiness. Such is the case of a
sinful spirit ; and therefore a God of justice may pro-
nounce upon it, and execute tlie eternal misery.
SECTION n.
The strongest and most plausible objections against the
perpetuity of hell answered.
1 think these reasons, which have been given, are
suflBcient to justify the ministers of the gospel in repre-
senting the punishments of hell as everlasting. But man,
sinful man, does not love to hear of this dreadful perpe-
tuity of hell. They would fain find some period to these
sorrows, they search on every side if there be no way of
escape from this prison, no door of mercy, no cranny of
hope left among the reasons of things, or among the at-
tributes, or the transactions of the blessed God. And
they are ever proposing some methods to cut shoit this
416 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
eternity, which scripture ascribes to the punishment of
impenitent sinners. I shall endeavor therefore here to
give a fair and plain answer to the strongest objections
against this doctrine which I ever yet have met with.
The first objection is raised from a criticism on the
words of scripture. The Greek and Hebrew words,
say they, which we translate eternal and everlasting, where
the torments of hell are mentioned, are not always used
for proper and complete eternity ; they sometimes signify
only a long duration. So God gave Abraham and his
seed the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession ;
Gen. xvii. 8 ; but now the Turks possess it. Several of
the statutes of the Levitical law were said to be ever-
lasting ; Lev. xvi. 34. But they are all abolished in the
gospel. The sons of Aaron had an everlasting priest-
hood conferred upon them ; Exod. xl. 15. But this
office is cancelled by the kingdom of the Messiah, and
finished for ever.
Besides, let it be remembered, say the objectors, that
the Hebrew word D^l^; Olam, and the Greek Aiuv
and Aiuveg signify only the various ages or periods of
time Avhich belong to the duration of creatures, or to
some constitutions of God concerning his creatures. And
they should be translated an age, or ages, more properly
than any thing else. And the adjective Aimiog, when
applied to creatures, can relate only to these ages ; but
these expressions were never designed to enter into God's
own eternity, either before the existence of this world, or
after the consummation of it ; upon which reason it is
highly improper and absurd to assert, that the duration
or punishment of creatures in hell shall be properly
eternal, and equal to the duration of the blessed God
himself. Now since every thing in God's transactions
towards creatures is sometimes limited by these Aioovsg,
or ages, which are periods of time that shall be finished,
why may not the damnation and the sorroAVs of hell be
PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 417
also finislied and cancelled at a certain length of years,
though the common words which we translate eternal
and everlasting, be ascribed to them in scripture ?
Answer 1. These are the same words both in Greek
and Hebrew, by which God expresses his own eternity,
which is absolute and complete without end. He is
the everlasting God; Gen. xvi, 33. The eternal God,
and his everlasting arms ; Deut. xxxiii. ^7 ; Rom. i. SO,
and xvi. 26, and several other places. These are the
words also by which the scripture expresses the duration
of ihc felicities of heaven, and the eternal life and hap-
piness of the saints ; Dan. xii. 2, Rom. vi. 23, John iii.
15, &c. Now why should we not suppose the same
"Words to signify the same duration, when the Old or
New Testament speaks of everlasting burnings as the
vengeance of God against the wicked ; Isai. xxxiii. 14 ;
or everlasting shame and contempt P Han. xii. 2. And
especially where the joys of the saints, and the misery
of sinners, are set in opposition to one another in the
same text, as in Dan. xii. and Matt. xxvi. 45 ; The
wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, and
the righteous into life eternal ? And yet further, when
we iind this doctrine sufficiently confirmed by many
other places of scripture which set forth the eternity of
these torments ? I grant that tlie eternity of God him-
self, before this world began, or after its consummation,
has something in it so immense and so incomprehensible,
that in my most mature thoughts I do not choose to enter
into those infinite abysses ; nor do 1 think we ought
usually, when we speak concerning creatures, to affirm
positively, that their existence shall be equal to that of
the blessed God, especially with regard to the duration
of their punishment. Perhaps this sort of language may
carry in it something beyond what we are called to dis-
course about, at least in this mortal state ; and therefore
such comparisons are more safely omitted.
53
418 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
But I would remark here still, that tlicse Aicovsg oi'
ages, both of reward and punishment which are pro-
nounced concerning saints or sinners, do but begin in
their perfection at the end of this world ; and tlience it
follows, that they must enter far away into the eternity
of God's existence yet to come. And the saints will be
made happy, and the sinners will be punished for long
ages after the end of this world, and all the Aicovegj or
ages of it.
And though God, by his Spirit, has not been pleased
to make this comparison expressly, nor assert our dura-
tion commensurate with his own, yet he is pleased to
express the duration of the punishment of sinners in the
same common language and phrases, whereby he ex-
presses his own duration, and tlie happiness of the
saints ; and hereby he encourages us to express these
punishments by the same common words in our lan-
guage too, rather than venture to cut tlicm sliort by a
Greek or Hebrew criticism, without any divine warrant
or necessity.*
Now are tliere any sinners so void of understanding,
of so daring and desperate a mind, as to venture theiv
eternal all upon such a poor criticism of words ? Even
upon supposition these terms in the Greek and Hebrew
might signify any long duration short of eternity, yet
there is a terrible hazard in coniining tliera to this sense,
since they do not denote a proper eternity, when they
describe the duration of the blessed God ; and 1 think
we may add also, the duration of the happiness of th?
saints.
* The Word aid toi perpetual, is also applied to the chains of devils, Jiidr.
vi. as well as to God, liom. i. and however the word cctuv and uiavi^ may be
used for ages or periods in this world, yet uicovs^ rtrjv etiavaiv or a^es of ages,
is never applied in all the New Testament to any thing but God or Christ, ov
the bles^eibiess of saints, or the punishment of sinners ,- and therefore we ma}
well conclude, that all these four run into an eternity beyond all the supposes,
periods of this world, and far beyond all our conception-?
PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 419
Besides, let it be remembered, that the other expres-
sions of scripture, which denote and pronounce the per-
petuity or eternity of these punishments, are not liable to
tlie same criticism or ambiguity of a word. Their fire
shall be unquenchable ^ or is not quenched, their worm
dieth not. They have no rest day nor night ; they shall
he tormented day and night for ever and ever ; Rev.
XX. 10. These expressions seem to carry with them a
more certain signification of the perpetual continuance of
the punishment. Now can the tempter and tlie deceiver
of souls have so unhappy an influence over you, as to
persuade you to venture onward in the patlis of sin, to
put oft* religion, and delay your repentance, and neglect
the means of salvation, in hopes that hereafter this weak
criticism, upon some of the threatenings, may take place
before the Judge of the whole earth, and thus excuse or
•save you ? Is not such a sorry refuge and presumption
a dangerous and a dismal sign upon impenitent sinners,
that sin and satan have darkened your understanding,
and confounded your judgment, as well as hardened
your hearts, in order to your everlasting destruction ?
Answer 2. Suppose the punishments of hell continue
only for a long time, and not for an endless immortality,
yet this time would certainly be found exceeding long
for sinners to bear the torment even according to their
own criticisms. Let us consider this matter under some
particulars. The Jewish dispensation which is some-
times called everlasting, stood near about fifteen hundred
years, from Moses to Christ ; and are ye content to lan-
guish and groan under torments and miseries, for fifteen
hundred years, merely to satisfy your vicious appetite of
pleasure for a few days, or a few years, of this mortal
life?
Again. The rebellious sinners who were destroyed
at the flood, and their spirits which were sent into the
prison of hades or hell, were certainly confined there
4S0 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
four and twenty hundred years. And if they were re-
leased then, as some imagine, by the preaching of Christ
to them, it is a long and dreadful time to continue under
the vengeance of God ; and is it worth while for any
man to continue in sin on earth, and to venture this
length of punishment in hell ?
What I build these computations upon, are some ex-
pressions of St. Peter, 1 Epistle iii. 19, 20, where Christ
is said to preach unto the spirits in prison, which some
time were disobedient, ivhen once the long-suffering of
God waited in the days of JVoah. Some have supposed
that this text informs us of Christ's descent into hell
after his death, and then preaching to those rebels who
were drowned in the flood, near two thousand four hun-
dred years before, in order to awaken them to repent-
ance and salvation ; whereas others think this text may
be better expounded concerning the spirit of Christ given
to Noah, which made him a preacher of righteousness,
when he foretold and threatened a flood of waters, and
called men to repentance.
But if it should be granted that those rebellious spirits
among the dead did all repent, and were delivered by
this preachil^g of Clirist, would you choose to indulge
the delights of sin for a short season^ and venture twen-
ty-four hundred years of torment and anguish for it ?
Yet further — The devils have lain under punislniient
near six thousand years, viz. four thousand before Christ
came, and almost two thousand years since, which may
be thus computed from what St. Jude says of them.
^\\^ angels who kept not their first station, thej were cast
into chains of darkness, probably before the creation of
this our world, for they were fallen, and tempted Adam
to sin as soon as this world was made. And they had
been confined in these chains from that time about four
thousand years before Clirist came, and are waiting still
for yet sharper punishment at the judgment of the great
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 421
day ; Jude vi. ; and it is evident that they are conscious
of this terror, and this future increase of punishment ;
for they expostulated with our Saviour ; Matt. viii. 29 ;
Art thou eome to torment us before the time P Now it is
near two thousand years since Christ came ; and from
the time of their sinning unto this day, it is almost six
thousand years. And when the great day of judgment
comes, their fiercer punishment is but then to begin.
And are not the devil and his angels sentenced and con-
fined to dwell together with the wicked children of
Adam, when they shall be consigned at that dreadful
day to the same everlasting fire and torment, which
were prepared for those evil spirits ? And who knows
when their torment will end? Now what folly and
hardness of heart, or rather what madness is it for men
to continue in their sins, to delay their return to God,
and abandon the grace of the gospel, under this foolish
flattery and wild presumption, that above six thousand
years hence, perhaps a certain day may come when the
worm of conscience will die, and the fire of hell will be
quenched ? Such presumption is madness and distrac-
tion rather than reasoning.
The second objection is derived from the justice and
equity of God. Surely may some person say, the j'jstice
of God will proportion the punishment to tlie offence ;
but since our sins are but the actions of mortal and short
lived creatures, and are committed in a few years of
time, why should the punishment be immortal, and the
angels be lengthened out to eternity ? Can a righteous
God pronounce such a severe and unjust sentence, and
execute it in its full dimensions ?
Answer. It is not the length of time which wicked
men spent in committing their sins, nor the nature of the
persons who have sinned, that determines the measures
of punishment, but the dignity of that infinitely glorious
Being, against whom sin is committed, that gives such a
42S THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE «
iiigli aggravation as to require puuisliment without entl. *
How many instances are there amongst men wherein
offeiiilcrs against their neighbors, or against a magistrate,
who spent but a few moments in tlic crime, yet are doom-
ed to imprisonment for months and years ? And a lower
degree of trespass against a king, which is sliort of high
treason, is sometimes punished \\ itli confiscation of goods,
and with poverty aud close imprisonment for life. And
by the same reason, the sins of men being committed
against a God of infinite majesty, require an endless
punishment, as I have proved in the second argument ;
and therefore divine justice pronounces or inflicts no
longer penalty than the crimes of men deserve, according
to their aggravations. If any sinners tarry then till they
have paid the utmost farthing to divine justice, I grant
God will release them, but he has given us no hope
before.
The tliird objection is drawn from the sovereignty and
goodness of God. It is granted, say they, tliat the
tlu'eatenings of eternal death are denounced against sin-
ners in scripture, yet it is not necessary God should
execute them to the full. When a laic is made the I
threatenings of it only declare what punishment the of-
fender shall be exposed to, and shall be obliged to bear
when it is inflicted ; but these expressions in a law do
not oblige the government to inflict that sentence with all
its terrors. It is granted, that in the case of promises.
truth and veracity oblige the promiser to fulfil them
punctually, because the right of the thing promised passes
over to that other person to whom the promise was made ;
and he hath such a right to require it, that it is injustice
to withhold it from him ; and therefore everlasting felicity
must be given to the righteous. But in threatenings the
case is otherwise ; for though the full punishment is due
to sinners, yet they will never require the execution of
it : and the goodness of God will incline him to relieve
PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 4i23
tlie sufferer, and to release him from the severity of
such a punishment, wliere his veracity or truth, does not
forbid it.
To this I answer two ways.
1. I will not debate this point of law now, how far a
governor of sovereign and absolute authority can dis-
pense with his own thrcatenings, can omit the execution
of them, relax the degree of threatened punishment, or
shorten the duration of it. But let it be considered, tliat
here is not only the threatening of a God;^ the universal
Governor, but the prediction of this eternal punishment,
by a God who cannot lie. God's own truth and veracity
are concerned in this case, since his Son Jesus, wiio is
the greatest of his messengers, together with the prophets
and apostles, have in the name cf God often foretold,
that these punishments shall be eternal. And therefore
whatsoever an absolute governor might do, as to short-
ening the punishment threatened^ in a way of mercy and
relaxation, yet I cannot see how the trutli and veracity
of God himself, or the veracity of his Sou Jesus Christ,
who is the great Prophet, or the trutli of tlie rest of his
prophets and messengers can be maintained, if this pun-
ishment be not executed according to the many express
predictions of it. These all agree to tell us by inspira-
tion from heaven, in various forms of speech, that the
torments of hell shall be everlasting ; and as I hinted
before, the man Jesus who pronounces this eternal sen-
tence as a Lo^d and a Judge, foretels it also as a Prophet,
that the execution of it shall be to all everlasting.
Answer 2. Obstinate and impenitent sinners have no
reason to expect, that the goodness of God should release
them from their miseries, since the justice and the holi-
ness, the righteous government and authority of God in
his law require and demand their due of honor, as well
as his goodness. Do we not see these honors of divine
justice, and of God's hatred of sin, have been continually
424 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF TtlE
demanded aud executed in the infinite and innumerable
evils, sorrows, miseries diseases and deaths,thatliave been
spread over this world almost six thousand years because
of sin ? Nor does his goodness forbid or hinder it.
And let it be remembered too, that all this immense
variety and long succession of plagues and terrors arose
originally from the just indignation and resentment of
God against one sin, even that of the first man. Who
was it that burnt Sodom and Gromorrha with fire from
heaven ? Who was it that chained fallen angels in dark-
ness to a more terrible judgment ? Was it not a Grod of
supreme goodness ? Who sent famines, and pestilences,
and slaughters all over the earth in many distinct genera-
tions, whereby mankind have been made abundantly
wretched, and plunged into millions of distresses ? And
yet the sroodness of God abides for ever. And while the
great God is acting according to the glories of his nature
and government, in punishing rebellious creatures, his
goodness will feel no soft and sensible impressions from
all their groans and outcries ; but if I may so express it,
will be changed into just indignation witliout end. And
the language of it to those impenitent wretches will be
this, " because 1 have called and ye refused ; ye have set
at naught all my counsel, and would none of ray reproof,
I will laugh at your calamity, 1 will mock when your
fear cometh ; when your fear cometh as desolation, and
your destruction as a whirlwind ; when distress and an-
guish cometh upon you, then shall ye call jipon me, but
I will not answer ; ye shall seek me early, but ye shall
not find me ; for ye hated knowledge, and did not choose
the fear of the Lord. Ye would none of my counsels, ye
despised all my rebukes ; therefore shall ye eat of the
fruit of your own way, and be filled with your own de-
vices ;" Prov. i. Take them, angels, " bind them hand
and foot, aud cast them into everlasting fire and utter
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL, 4g5
darkness ; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and
gnashing of teeth ;" Matt. xxii. 13.
Let us cease then to murmur against the threatenings
and the transactions of the great God, till we are be-
come fitter judges of his perfections and their demands.
Let us cavil no more against his conduct and govern-
ment, till we can teach him how far his punishing justice
shall go in the execution of his threatenings, and till we
can assign to liim the point and limit where liis good-
ness shall interpose and restrain that justice.
lihefoarth objection is derived from the rectitude of
the nature of God^ or his common equity and mercy unit-
ed, which has bt^.n represented in this manner. Sup-
pose one of the damned spirits among mankind should
address himself to the great Grod in such sort of language
as this, "Lord, I was created by thy sovereign pleasure
without my own will, I did not desire to be made, much
less to be born in such a relation to Adam, whereby I
brought a sinful nature into the world with me ; but I
was united by thy power and pleasure to a body which
had the seeds of sin and misery in it. There were
strong appetites and violent passions mingled with my
flesh and blood, which 1 myself had no hand in procur-
ing ; they fermented in me with much vehemence, and
I was tempted to many excesses. I made some resist-
ance at first, and many times tried to subdue them, but
I was overcome. At last I suffered myself to be carried
aM^ay by the stream of tliese sinful affections and appe-
tites, which 1 could not possibly avoid, nor easily sub-
due. Is it agreeable to thine equity, O blessed God, to
punish such a poor wretch with everlasting torments?
And can thy mercy continue to see this my misery for
ever and ever, and not help me ? I entreat thee, O thou
almighty Author of ray being, to destroy and annihilate
me utterly soul and body ; take away this being which
I never asked nor desired ; nay, which I would not havi*
04
I
426 THE ETERNAL DUKATION OF THE ^
consented to accept among the sinful race of mankind,
because in this track of generation and existence I stood
much more likely to be miserable than to be happy."
Answer 1. As for the reasonableness and ecjuity of
the conveyance and communication of the original effects
of the sin of Adam through every generation of man, it
is granted there are some difficulties attending it ; but
these are generally answered by the writers on that sub-
ject ; and for me to divert from my present discourse, in
order to debate this point here, would be too tedious.
The equity of this wise and awful constitution of God
has been lately vindicated in a large treatise on the ruin
and recovery of mankind, especially in the second edition
of that book. But it is enough for my present argument
to say, that God himself will make the equity of his
constitution to appear with much more evidence and
conviction in the last great day, when millions of actual
criminals shall stand before the judgment-seat, who owe
the first spring of their sin and ruin to our common
parent, and yet will fall under the righteous condemna-
tion of the Judge. •
Answer 2. When God decreed to give thee a being, ■
O sinner, and designed thee in his eternal ideas to be a
man, placed among a thousand blessings of nature and
providence, it was then a favor of thy Creator ; for thou
wert designed also in this original divine idea,, to have
full sufficiency of power to become wise and happy. It
was also a favor from thy Creator, tSiat he took all these
thy sufficieuces of power, and put them into the hand of
one man, even the father of tliy race, because he was as
wise, and holy, and as well able as any man of iiis pos-
terity could be, to preserve his station in the favor of
God, and to secure thy happiness together with liis own ;
and he had much stronger obligations to obey his Ma-
ker, and more powerful motives to secure thy happiness
than thou thyself, or any single man could possibly luive,
I
PU^^SHMENTS OF HELL. 'iS7
because he was intrusted with the felicity of so many
jiiillions of his own dear offspring, as well as his own.
Now though Adam, thy first father, being thus furnished
with sufficiences of power, and with the strongest obli-
gations to preserve himself and thee, has actually sinned
and ruined himself and his offspring; (this is indeed an
unhappy truth ;) but the great God is not to blame, who
has not only acted wisely, but kindly towards his crea-
tures in this constitution, because so far as we can judge,
it was much more probable that Adam would have
maintained his innocence and his happiness, together
with that of his offspring.
tRgain. When the race of man was ruined, and God
saw that every man would come into the world under
unhappy circumstances of guilt and corruption of nature,
3ie provided a covenant of grace, and brought thee into
some knowledge of it. And this had been effectual to
have recovered and saved thee from the ruins of the fall,
if thou hadst exerted all thy force, employed all thy nat-
ural powers of understanding and will for this purpose,
and used all thy diligence to follow the methods of his
grace, and hadst sought earnestly for divine aids. For
there is no man among the damned is able to say, / have
done every thing that was in my power to do. No man
shall be condemned for what was utterly impossible for
liim to avoid. It is confessed indeed, thou art laid un-
der some hardships and difficulties by the sin of thy first
father ; yet it is thine own actual and personal crimes for
which thou art here condemned at this judgment, wherein
every one shall be judged and rewarded according to his
works. It is for many wilful offences against the law
of God, and for sinning against the offers of divine
gi'ace ; it is for obstinacy against thy own conscience,
and all the outward and inward monitions of tliy duty,
that thou art fallen under this sentence, and because
thou didst not labor and strive against sin, and resist it
438 THE ETERNAL DURATION OP THE
even to the end of thy state of life and trial. Thou hast
had many an inward reproof for sin, many a secret or
public call to virtue, and perhaps loud and fair warn-
ings of thy danger ; but thou hast turned a deaf ear to
them all, and it is thy own folly, obstinacy, and iniquity,
that have brought thee into this misery, and thou must
eat the fruit of thy own works.
If there should be any person found indeed among
Jews, Gentiles or christians, who can justly complain,
/ have not had a fair and full state of trial, and yet I
am condemned, I think we may grant that the righteous
God will release such from their misery, after they have
worn out a proper number of years in punishment pro-
portionable to their past crimes ; and that there shall
be a fair, and full, and proper state of trial appointed to
them before they shall be utterly and irretrievably mis-
erable. But if no such person be found there, if there
be no such just complaint to be made among the millions
of the damned, then they may be still continued in their
prison and punishment without any imputation upon
divine justice and equity.
Jhiswer 3. Whensoever any such criminal in hell
shall be found making such a sincere and mournful ad-
dress to the righteous and merciful Judge of all, if at the
same time he is truly humble and penitent for his past
sins, and is grieved at his heart for having offended his
Maker, and melts into sincere repentance, I cannot think
that a God of perfect equity and rich mercy will continue
such a creature under his vengeance ; but rather, that
the perfections of God will contrive a way for escape ;
though God has not given us here any revelation or dis-
covery of such special grace as this.
But on the other hand, whatever melting and moving
speeches may be made by sinners here on earth, in com-
passion to the sinners who are gone before them to hell,
yet if no such person be ever found in hell, truly and
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 439
humbly repenting of his sins, nor have we any reason
to think there ever will, why should a righteous God
be obliged to cease punishing a rebel who only is vexed
and raged under his own chains, and who continues in
the spirit of obstinacy, and rebellion against God, and
will not repent of it ?
Objection the fifth is derived from the mercy and com^
'passion of a Gody comj)ared with the mercy and com-
passion of man. Surely the compassion of the ever-
blessed God, who has described himself rich in mercy,
abundant in goodness, and whose very name is love,
1 John iv. 8, must have transcendent tenderness and pity
towards his creatures, the work of his hands, above all the
compassions that any fellow-creature can express towards
another. Now the very thought and name of eternal pun-
ishments, or endless torment is such as seems to shock the
nature of a good natured man ; and though he was never
so much injured, yet he would never have a thought of
wishing his enemy any kind of eternal punishment for
it, much less of condemning him to everlasting misery,
and supporting him in being on purpose to suffer it ;
and therefore we cannot suppose that God will do it.
This objection is further strengthened by an expres-
sion of our Saviour himself, who says, Mark xviii. 19,
There is none goody save one, that is God ; as much
as to say, there is none equal or comparable in good-
ness to God himself. And it is further supported still
by the common notions which good men have of God ;
those expressions in the apocryphal writings confirm it,
2 Esd. V. 33 ; " Then said the Lord unto me, thou art
sore troubled in mind for Israel. Lovest thou that peo-
ple more than he that made them ?" And in the same
book, chapter viii. 47 ; Thou comestfar short, that thou
shouldest be able to love my creature more than I. Now
since no good man could wish such a curse or mischief
to his worst and most wicked enemy, as torment without
430 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
end^ surelj^ we cannot conceive the great God will ever
be so severe as to inflict it.
Jinswer i. It is readily allowed, that God has more
goodness than any creature ; but God has also more
wisdom and knowledge, which concur with his good-
ness in all his actions j and he forms a much juster judg-
ment concerning the evil and demerits of sin and rebel-
lion against himself, than it is possible for any creature
to form. And I think I may boldly assert, none can
know the complete evil of sin, or its lull desert, but that
same glorious Being against wliom sin is committed,
who knows well the dignity of his own nature and his
own law, and what unspeakable injury is done thereto
by the sins of men. Now his goodness in all his trans-
actions must be re2;ulated and limited bv this infinite
wisdom ; and if a man docs not see and consent to the
just demerits of sin against his Maker, it is because he
has less wisdom and knowledge than the great God has ;
and his tenderness and compassion may run into very
great excesses, and may be in some instances a sign of
his weakness and folly, as well as of his goodness and
pity, as I shall shew under tlie next answer.
At present let us represent the case in a common in-
stance. When criminals go to execution from month to
month, or from year to year, in this great city ; and es-
pecially if some of them have a handsome and agreea-
ble appearance, and if they are Avringing tlieir hands
with outcries, and vexing their own hearts, and are
stung by their own consciences for their having brought
this misery upon themselves, you will find several of the
spectators of so tender a make as to grieve for tlie exe-
cution of such criminals, and to wish in their hearts it
was in their power to save them. And yet further, if
there are numbers of these wicked creatures that are
sent at once to the punishment of the sword or the gal-
lowS;, there may be many of these spectators grieviiig
PUNISHMENTS OF HELlr. 431
for tliem, and pitying them, and perhaps exclaiming
against the severity of the law, and the cruelty of the
judge, for condemning such malefactors to death.
But do all these weepers and complainants judge
justly of the case ? Do they consider how pernicious and
ruinous a thing it would he to a government to let such
traitors go unpunished ? JOo they know, that is a piece
of clemency and goodness to the innocent to punish the
wicked ? Or that it is a piece of necessary honor due to
the laws^ to make those who insolently break them, sus-
tain the penalty that the law has appointed ? Do they
remember that the few good qualities, or supposed tal-
ents, or fine appearances which these offenders are pos-
sessed of, should outweigh the demands of the law and
justice, the peace of the nation or kingdom, and the re-
straint of others from the same crimes ?
Answer 2. The goodness of God, the eternal Spirit,
is a much superior thing to the tenderness and compas-
sion of man dwelling in flesh and blood. Man grows
compassionate by a sort of sympathy or sensation of the
miseries which liis fellow-creatures endure ; and though
this is exceeding useful for many purposes of human
life, and therefore God planted it in our natures, yet it
lias so much mixture of animal nature with it, that it fre-
quently degenerates into weakness, fondness, and folly.
And indeed, if every tender creature must be gratified
in this weakness, and form the rules of government, there
would never a malefactor fall under execution ; but the
vilest criminals would be spared, though the government
were ruined.
On the other hand, the goodness or mercy of God is a
sedate willingness or design to do good to creatures, and
particularly to the miserable, but always according to the
directions of wisdom and holiness. As God cannot have
such anger, resentment, or cruelty in his nature, as man-
kind may fall into when they are punishing offenders,
4*32 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
SO properly speaking, he has no such sort of passionate
tenderness' and sympathy in sparing them. Though
the words of greatest affection are sometimes used by
the sacrpd writers to figure out the mercies of God to
man, yet God both punishes and spares according to
the calm and righteous exercises of his wisdom, and not
under the influence of such passions as we feel.
Since, therefore, the exercise of such sort of passions
among men oftentimes appears to be the weakness of
nature, joined with their ignorance of the rules of equity,
is it reasonable that the great and all-wise God should
make such creatures his patterns in the limitation of the
exercises of his justice? Or that he should be as weak
as they are, and as much moved to swerve from the rules
of his own righteous government, by such a sort of ten-
derness as ignorant, weak, and foolish man may some-
times express towards criminals in tlieir deserved
misery ?
It is readily granted, that a wise and a good man may
and ought to be sorry and grieved, that any of his fel-
fow-creatures should be so vicious as to bring themselves
under so severe a penalty by their own wilful crimes ;
but still in their calmest and wisest thoughts they ac-
knowledge the wisdom and equity of the government,
in inflicting such penalties upon those who heinously
offend ; and they acquiesce in the sentence and the ex-
ecution.
Our blessed Lord Jesus himself, who was the wisest
and the best of creatures, looked upon the city of Jerusa-
lem with an eye of compassion, and wept over it ; Luke
xiii. 34* ; ^' O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the
prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how
often would 1 have gathered thy children as a hen doth
gather licr brood under her wings, and ye would not ?
Therefore behold your house is left unto you desolate ''
Let it be observed here, that our Saviour had the bowels.
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 433
and compassions^, and tenderness of the best of men ;
but he still maintains the vindictive exercise of the gov-
ernment of God. ^*' Your desolation must and shall come
upon you, nor will I forbid or withhold it." And I am
sure the human nature of our blessed Saviour was
formed nearest to the image of God beyond any creature
besides ; and as I have hinted before, it is he who is the
supreme messenger of his Father's love, that has pro-
nounced these eternal punishments upon impenitent sin-
ners in many parts of his ministry.
Ansicer 3. How far will these ohjectors permit, the
justice of God to go in the punishment of impenitent
sinners ? If eternal punishment must neither be threat-
ened nor inflicted, lest divine goodness be injured, then
all mankind, even the worst and vilest of criminals,
must certainly be one day delivered from their miseries ;
and thus the great God, who is infinitely offended, is
bound to finish his wrath one day, and return in mercy
to the offenders, whether they return to him by repent-
ance or no. What ! May the criminal rebel creature
with impudence and spite affront the Creator infinitely,
and must not the Creator have a right to demand equal
vengeance ? No ; he must not, according to these
writers ; for if the essential goodness of God do certainly
forbid eternal punishments, these absurdities, as gross
as they appear, will be the necessary consequences of it.
And tiiough the creature be not restrained from sinning,
yet the blessed God will be utterly restrained from pun-
ishing. And is this a doctrine fit to be believed by
christians, or to l)e taught by those who have no com-
mission for it from their Bible ? Or indeed, will the
light of nature and reason ever justify and support this
sort of pleading ?
Objection the sixth is drawn from the wisdom of God
in his government of the world. Surely, will the sinner
say, it was for some valuable end that God at first pro-
55
434 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
nounced punishment to attend the sins of his creatures ;
for lie does not afflict willingly, nor delight to grieve
the children of men ; his design must be therefore one
of these two things; either to correct, and reform the
sinners whom he punishes, and reduce them to their
duty, in order to partake of his mercy, or else it must be
to maintain a jJublic monument and dejnonstration of his
justice, and to support the authority of his law, and
honor of his government, that he might deter other crea-
tures from sinning against him. But when this world
is come to its period, and his governing providence over
it is finished, and all the means of grace are ended, the
first end, viz. correction and reformation, ceases. Tlierc
is no more hope of reforming such sinners as these. And
what further need can there be of the secondary design
of punishment, viz. the demonstration of his justice in
so terrible a manner to restrain others from sinning,
when the state of our trial is ended, and all mankind are
sent either to heaven or hell ?
Ansicer 1. 1 might here reply by way of concession,
that if there were no other intelligent creatures to be
witnesses of these eternal demonstrations of God's holi-
ness, his justice, and his hatred of sin ; and if God him-
self was tlie only Being who knew of these eternal pun-
ishments, I acknowledge I cannot see sufficient reason
for this endless duration of them ; I cannot give any
probable account why creatures who are never to ])c cor-
rected and reformed, should be tormented for ever in
secret ; God perfectly knows his own holiness and jus-
tice without such monuments of it ; and since he has as-
serted this punishment, I think there must be some crea-
tures to receive amoral influence from the Icnowledge of it.
I answer secondly. When there is a representation
made of the punishment of the worshippers of the beast
in Rev. xiv 10, 11, tliat they shall drink of the wine of
the wrath of God which is jioured out without mixture :
PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 435
and they shall he tormented with fire and brimstone ; and
the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever,
it is in the jtresence of the holy angels, as well as ia the
jrresence of the Lamb. Angels and otlier innocent be-
ings may improve such a sight to valuable purposes.
Objection the seventh. When we remember that
Jesus Christ himself hath assured us that but few shall
he saved, and that the broad way is full of sinners run-
ning down to destruction and death ; if we suppose these
punishments to be endless, some will be ready to say,
What ! shall the greatest part of God's creatures be
made miserable for ever and ever ? Is this consistent
with the wisdom and goodness of the blessed God, to
form such an immense multitude of souls dwelling in
bodies, to make them for ever miserable ? What will
a God of goodness have to prove his goodness to his
creatures, if far the greatest part of them are left in ever-
lasting sorrows ?
Answer. The far greatest part of the creation of God
may be holy and happy still ; for this world of ours,
even all mankind, is a very small portion of God's im-
mense dominions ; and when the transactions of our
earth, and God's present government of it shall be fin-
ished, he has a thousand other dominions among the
planets and stars, which has been proved by the reason
of men to a great degree of probability ; and these he
governs by righteous laws ; and though he has not re-
vealed much of them to us in this life, yet he has dis-
covered something of this kind in his own word. He
lias acquainted us with his wise and righteous govern-
ment over fallen angels, and what was their sin, viz.
their pride and ambition, and what was their punishment
for their first rebellion ; Jude vi. ; and this is done by
the wisdom and mercy of God, to affright men from sin-,
ning, while we behold how those fallen spirits are ex-
posed and set forth as terrible examples for our warning.
436 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
And why may not the everlasting punishment of sinners
among the children of men be made a standing mon-
ument of God's justice, to deter many other worlds from
offending him ? Other worlds, I say, of unknown crea-
tures, which perhaps may inhabit the planetary globes
rolling round the same sun as our earth does ; and their
state of trial perhaps is not yet begun, or it may be half
run out, and yet shall not be finished for some thousands
of years ?
Or perhaps there are other worlds of spirits, and in-
Yisible, incorporeal, intelligent creatures, in a state of
trial, may persevere in glorious innocence and complete
happiness, to the eternal praise of their Maker's good-
ness ; and may yet be kept in their constant duty and
obedience, by having always in their view the eternal
punishments of wicked men. See this sulnject treated of
more at large in a book called The Strength and Weak-
ness of Human Reason ; Sd edition, p. 288.
The counsels of God are far above our reach ; and
his dominions and governments are unknown to us.
What if the great God will have creatures in some of his
territories, who in themselves are weak and ready to
fall, and may be deterred from sin and apostacy by such
standing manifestations of his hatred of it, and his right-
eous vengeance against it ? And since others have been
monuments of warning to us, what if he please to make
this wicked world of ours, when he has taken the few
righteous out of it to heaven, 1 say, what if he please to
make the rest an everlasting spectacle of his justice and
holiness, to a hundred or a thousand other worlds, which
may be utterly unknown to us ? And he may, for this
end, reveal his transactions with mankind to those
worlds, though he has not revealed much of their affairs
io us.
If I were to mention any other objection worthy of
notice, I know of none but this, viz. some learned men
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 437
suppose it to have been the opinion of the primitive
fathers, that souls departing from this worhl were sent
into hades, or the state of the dead, where the righteous
rested in a state of peace and hope, till the resurrection
should bring them to heaven ; and the most wicked
amongst mankind went also to hades, or this state of the
dead, under a long and fearful expectation of the final
punishments of hell. But that great multitudes who
were of an indifterent character, and who were not so
bad but they might be reclaimed, had another state of
trial in hades, whither, they say, our Lord Jesus Christ
at his death descended, and preached the gospel to them ;
and many of them were recovered, and shall be hereafter
raised to eternal life. The chief scripture whence they
borrow this, is 1 Pet. iii. 19, SO ; of which we have
spoken before ; and that at the great day of judgment,
the incorrigible sinners should be sent with the devils
into the punishment of fire, which, though it may last for
a shorter or longer time, yet should destroy both their
bodies and their souls for ever.
To this I answer first. If this had been the doctrine of
many ancient christians, yet unless they could bring
plainer proofs of it from the word of Grod, than one diffi-
cult and obscure text of St. Peter, there is no great rea-
son for us to receive from them such traditions. The
word of God is our only test of truth, and our instructor
in matters of the invisible world.
Answer 2. Though there might be a few of the early
writers who seemed to incline to some of these opinions,
yet this sense is drawn out from most of them by learned
men with much difficulty, uncertainty, and conjecture.
And there are many others of them who make the pun-
ishments of hell as durable as the writers of later ages.
Nor do they mention or allow of any such sort of pur-
gatory for souls of an indifferent character as this objec-
tion pretends. Those who look into their writings will
438 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
find abimdaiit evidence, that most of tliem talk of eternal
pimishment by fire, in the very words and language of
the New Testament, and in direct opposition to this doc-
trine of temporal punishments in hell. 1 shall cite bnt
two writers, one of which is the very earliest of the
fathers, an acquaintance of St. Paul ; and that is Clemens
the Roman, v.ho in the eighth section of his second
epistle says thus :
Let us tlierefore repent whilst we arc yet upon the
earth ; for we are as clay in the hand of the artificer.
For as the potter, if he makes a vessel, and it be distort-
ed in his hands, or broken, again forms it anew ; but if
lie hath gone so far as to throw it into the furnace of fire,
he can no more bring any remedy to it. So we, whilst
we are in this world, should repent Avitli our whole heart
for whatsoever evil we have done in the flesh, while we
liave yet the time of repentance, that we may be saved
by the Lord. For after we shall have departed out of
this world, we shall no longer be able either to confess
our sins, or repent in the other." The English reader
may find this in Archbishop Wake's translation of the
most primitive fathers.
Justin Martyr, who is also one of the most early
writers, in the eighth section of his first ajjology, tells us,
that Plato teaches that Radamanthus and Minos punish-
ed the unrighteous who came before them ; and that ice
christians say the same thing will be done, but it is by
Christ; when their bodies are joined tcith their souls,
and they shall be punished icith eternal punishment, and
not for the period of a thousand years only, as Plato said.
This same w riter also, in very many places of his works,
talks o{ eternal punishments, and oi punishment for an
endless age, and eternal fire, with eternal sensation or
pain.
Irensus also after him, as well as Ignatius and Poly-
carp before him. speak of this fire which is not to be
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 489
quenched., and of death and punishmeni, not temporal,
but eternal. So tliat it is really an imposition upon un-
learned readers to pretend, that the doctrine wliicli denies
the eternity of the punishments of hell, was the common
sense of the primitive fathers, though it is granted that
Origen and some others might be of this opinion.
To conclude — Since the word of God has expressly
assured us, that these punishments of sinful men shall be
eternal, it is not for us to hearken to any otlier doctrines,
and neglect what God has said, nor is it fit for us to dis-
pute the wisdom and justice of divine conduct, nor to
impeach his goodness. Let God be true, though every
man be a liar ; let God be wise, though every man be a
fool ; let God be just and righteous in all his ways,
though man vainly murmur against him, and raise these
noisy and feeble remonstrances against his judgments.
The counsel of the Lord shall stand, and he will do all
his pleasure, in the eternal manifestations of his justice
as well as his grace. If there be any supposed incon-
sistency or cloud of difficulty remaining on his conduct,
he will clear it up to the satisfaction of every rational
mind one day, and will bring the conscience of every
condemned sinner to acknowledge the equity of his pro-
ceedings. The whole creation shall tlien justify the final
sentence of judgment on all the sons of men.
I cannot finish this awful argument better tlian the
apostle finishes the same sort of subject in the ninth and
eleventh chapters to the Romans. '^' O man, who art
thou that repliest against God? What if God, willing to
shew his wrath, and to make his power known, hath
endured, with much long-suffering, the vessels of wrath,
who have fitted themselves for destruction ? And that he
might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels
of mercy, which he hath afore prepared unto glory ? O
the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowl-
edge, ihe. justice and the goodness of 6ro^, how unsearch -
440 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
able are his judgments, and his ways past finding out?
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things,
to whom be glory fcr ever and ever. Amen."
SECTION III.
Reflections on the eternity of Punishment in Hell.
As we have before drawn various inferences from the
nature of those punishments tliat are prepared for sin-
ners in the world to come, so there are other inferences
and terrible reflections which may be derived from the
duration or jjerpetuity of the torments of hell.
Reflection I. What imspeakable anguish and torture
doth this one circumstance add to every pain and sorrow
of damned creatures^ that it is everlasting and has no
end P What unknown twinges in the conscience doth
this thought give to the gnawing of the cruel worm, viz.
that it is a laorm that never dies ? What inconceivable
force and sting of torment does this add to \\\^ flre of
God's indignation in hell, that it is a flre which shall
never be quenched f When one year of torment and sor-
row is ended, or one thousand years are come to their
period, the case of sinners is still much the same ; the
vengeance remains still as heavy as ever, and seems as
far off from its end. This dreadful price, which the jus-
tice of God demands for the reparation of our offences
against his law and his authority, is a price which crea-
tures can never pay, for it is infinite ; and therefore
when a finite creature begins to make payment thereof with
his own sufferings, these sufferings must be everlasting.
It is evident that one wilful sin is sufficient to sink
creatures under the indignation of a God for six thousand
years. I call the angels who sinned for witnesses to
this truth. They were formed in holiness and in glory
before the creation of this lower world ; and probably
they sinned and fell before this creation too ; and they
PUNISHMENTS OP HELU 441
are yet imprisoned and confined under jjerpetual chains
of darkness, as the word of Grod tells us, and reserved
to everlasting punishment at the judgment of the great
day. And if thou, O sinner, among the sons of men, if
thou diest in an unregenerate, unholy, and unpardoned
state, the sins of thy whole life are charged upon thee,
and tliou art daily treasuring up ivrath against the day
of wrath, and thou shall not escape from this prison till
thou hast paid the utmost farthing ; Rom. ii. 5 ; Matt.
V. 26.
If one sin deserves all this misery which has been
described, what a dreadful reckoning will the sins of
thy whole life come to, when every command of God
which thou hast broken shall appear and demand repar-
ation for its injured honor ? Remember^ O sinner, obsti-
nate and rebellious, remember thou hast to do with a
great and dreadful God, who has all thine iniquities ever
before his eyes ; Isaiah Ivi. 5. Behold they are written
hfore me, and I will recompence, saith the Lord, their
iniquity into their bosom. He is a God that will never
forget any one of thy crimes. Amos viii. 7 j The Lord
hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, surely I ivill
never forget any of their works. Though thou hast lost
and forgot them, he will bring them again into thy con-
science with a terrible remembrance; and when this
God comes forth in a way of vengeance, every trans-
gression and disobedience shaUreceive a just recompence
of reward. Vengeance belongeth unto me, saith the
Lord ; Heb. ii. 2. and x. 30. He that spared not his
oini Son, when he laid on him the iniquity of us all,
will never spare thee who art the personal and criminal
transgressor. Eternal recompences are due to the de-
mands of justice, and he will punish till full payment is
made equal to tlie evil of sin, that is to all everlasting.
Reflection II. What infinite and eternal concerns of
men hang upon the short and slender thread of human
.^6
442-
TKE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
life P An eternal heaven or an eternal hell depend* on
our good or ill behaviour in this short and mortal state.
While life remains the sinner's hope remains ; lie abides
on the stage of action^ and this is the state of trial for
eternity. But as soon as tlie thread of life is broken,
immediately ensues endless joy or endless sorrow.
What a poor fleeting vapor, what a thin and frail
bubble is this feeble and uncertain thing which we call
life ? And yet what matters of immense importance de-
pend upon it ? This present life is a prize put into our
hands, for it is the only time given us to obtain deliver-
ance and escape from eternal death. Life in this view,
as mere a bubble and vapor as it is, carries in it some-
thing of infinite and everlasting moment. But alas, how
wretchedly does foolish and sinful mankind trifle and
squander it away amidst a thousand vanities and imper-
tinences, or saunter it out in sloth and laziness, with an
utter disregard of the important eternity that depends
upon it ? What multitudes are there that waste the
golden hours of grace and the seasons of hope, iu pro-
curing to themselves by their own wilful iniquities, a
lengtli of damnation and everlasting despair ?
Whilst we dwell here in the midst of the means of
mercy and salvation, tlicre is hope that our sinful souls
may be healed of that disease which is breeding the
ever-knawing worm within us. We may prevent the
fuel of divine wratli from kindling into a flame wliich
cannot be quenched. But when once the clock of life
has gone through its appointed spaces, and the last hojr
strikes, whether it be three or five, whether at twelve, at
noon, or at midnight, all liope is for ever gone ; we are
plunged into the regions of death, despondency and
darkness, and nothing remains but the actual torture of
the worm of conscience to seize on us, and the fire of
divine anger actually breaks out, which shall burn to the
lowest hell.
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 443
O could we but behold ourselves iu tlie glass of wis-
dom, while we are yet standing upon the slippery edge
of this burning precipice, and playing with painted bub-
bles there, or in warm pursuit of a flying shining feather
along the brink of this burning torrent, what fools and
madmen sliould we appear to be even in our own eyes !
And yet we go on to practice this folly, this madness,
day after day, in spite of all the warnings of God and
man, till at last our foot slips in some dreadful moment,
and we vanish out of the sight of our companions, and
are lost for ever.
Keflection III. If the miseries of hell are eternal,
how unreasonable a thing is it ever to suffer the loss of
any jiossessions or joys which are temporal and perisli-
ing. to come into competition ivith them P Surely there
is nothing that belongs to time that should tempt us to
run the risque of tlie sorrows of eternity, nor allure us
to commit one sin against God, which is the fatal spring
of such sorrows ! Stand still, O sinner, and hearken to
tlie voice of wisdom. Do the pleasures of sense, or the
gaities of sight, or the wealth or grandeurs of this life
allure thee to make thy way boldly through any ineans
toward the possession of them, think with thyself, is it
by offending tlijs great and dreadful God ? And wilt
thou dare to take one step towards these dangerous and
deceitful vanities, and risque thine immortal welfare in
the pursuit ? What a foolish bargain wilt thou make to
gain the whole world of short lived perishing trifles, and
to lose thy soul, in endless perdition ? Mark viii. 36.
Dare any of us venture an eternal state of torment to
gain the flattering and delusive joy of a short hour, or a
winter's day ?
What are all the gratifications of flesh and sense ?
What are all the swelling titles of honor amongst men ?
What are all the treasures of this perishing world ?
How short is their duration, and how short is the pos-
444 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
session of them? All earthly felicities perish in tlip using,
and are no sooner enjoyed but are quickly lost again, or
expire in the enjoyment. But if the ruin of a soul, and
a lost heaven, be the price of them, how mad is the pur-
chase, and how wretched is the purchaser ?
Retiection IV. How patiently sJiould ice bear all the
labors and fatigues, the pains and miseries of this mor-
tal life, when ive have any hope of our deliverance from
the pains and sorrows of immortality P As for our
maladies and sorrows here on earth, blessed be God
they are not eternal. There are some intervals to re-
lieve, and there is some period to finish them. When
we ask a friend who is sick and in pain, ^^ how fare you P
I am in pain now, says he, but I hope I shall be easy
anon. I am sick to-day, but I trust 1 shall be in health
tomorrow." This is a sweet mitigation of the present
uneasiness, and gives relief to the patient. But how
dreadful and piercing would these accents be, if we
should hear our friend make this answer to us, " I am
all over in extreme pain and anguish, and I shall never,
never be eased of it. I lie under exquisite torment of
the flesh, and horror in my soul, and I shall for ever
feel this horror and this torment." Such is the case of
the damned sinners in hell, and therefore there agonies
are intolerable.
But if you have any comfortable prospect of the par-
don of sin, and a well grounded hope of eternal salva-
tion through the blood of Christ, and by the rules and
promises of the gospel, all the temporal toils and
plagues that can possibly stand between us and heaven
should be despised and disregarded by us, and we
should learn to triumph over them with the victorious
songs of thankfulness and praise. Blessed be the name
of our God, though he has smitten us sorely, yet he has
not given us over to everlasting death.
Let our thoughts ascend to the heavenly regions, and
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 445
let US ask those who are arrived thither out of the land
of temptation and conflict, out of these tabernacles of sin
and sorrow ', let us ask them what gave them so divine
a courage, and so firm a patience, in the midst of all
their trials ? With one voice they will all make answer,
it was the view of our deliverance from an eternal hell,
and the hopes of obtaining salvation by Christ Jesus
with eternal glory ; it is this that supported us under
every burden, and bore us on with a spirit of faith and
victory through every hardship on earth. It was for
tliis we labored, and suifered, and counted not life, nor
any of the blessings of it, dear to us, nor any of the sor-
rows of it intoUerable, that we might escape the ever-
lasting sorrows of a future state, and enjoy the bless-
ings of life eternal.
And, O may every one of us he the followers of those
who through this faith and patience have obtained the
•promised felicity ! May we also make our way, by the
same motives, through the floods and the fires of afflic-
tion and distress, to reach this everlasting heaven, and
to escape everlasting burnings !
In order to confirm our patience, and to animate our
zeal, let us survey the blessed example of St. Paul, who
was reproached, who was buffetted, who was persecu-
ted with stones, and whips, and scourges, and bore a
thousand indignities, who was assaulted with endless
strokes of injury and violence, and yet rejoiced in the
midst of all his sufferings in the view of his eternal hope.
The spirit of faith in the midst of all his sufferings
taught him to sing this divine song, our light afflictions,
which are hut for a moment, are working for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, The suf-
ferings of this present time are not worthy to he compar-
ed with the glory that shall he revealed ; 2 Cor. iv. 17-
Rom. viii. 18. Nor are they worthy to be compared
with that exceeding and eternal weight of vengeance.
446 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
from which we are delivered by faith and patient obedi-
ence to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflection Y. If the iniseries of hell are eternal, we
can never have our deliverance from them made too se-
cure. If the danger of any mischief, to which ^ve might
be exposed, were but slight, and the duration of it short,
there might be possibly some excuse for our delay to
escape it. But wlien it is total and irrevocable ruin to
which we are liable every moment, while we continue in
a state of sin, we should fly with all the wings of our
souls, and never be at ease or quiet till we are got with-
out the reach of danger, and settled in a place of safety,
or on the rock of our salvation.
O could we but perceive a thousandth part of the hor-
ror that is contained in an eternal hell, an eternal ban-
ishment from the face and favor of God, and tlie eternal
impressions of his anger, we should never give our-
selves rest one moment, till we had returned to God by
a sincere repentance, and were reconciled to him that
made us ; till we fled for refuge to the blood of Jesus,
and to his sanctifying grace, whicli is the only hope that
is set before us. We should never give ourselves leave
to lie down, or awake in quiet, while we were destitute
of a saving interest in the salvation of Christ, and had
attained to some clear evidence of it, and a well-ground-
ed hope.
Have we not sometimes felt the icorm of conscience
begin to gnaw within us, and to prey upon our spirits
after the commission of some sin ? And shall we not
apply ourselves with all holy speed to the divine Phy-
sician, wlio can kill this gnawing worm witliin us, and
can heal tliose sinful maladies that are breeding it?
Have we not sometimes felt the tlu'eatenings of tlie
Avrath of God in his larw, like afire in our bones? With
what infinite desire then, and what restless vehemence
should we fly to the blood of Jesus, our great sacrifice,
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 447
which alone can quench the fiery indignation of God,
and prevent it from growing up to an everlasting flame.
Had we upon our spirits such a sense of the terrors
of the Lord of liell, as his threatenings represent, we
should never he satisfied with such cold, doubtful hopes
of our deliverance from them, as thousands of nominal
christians are contented with ; but we should make
every needful and critical enquiry^, whether our repent-
ance were sincere, whether our faith in Christ were un-
feigned, whether our hopes had a solid foundation in
the divine promise. We should search every power of
our souls, and examine our hearts through every corner,
whether sin be mortified there, whether the christian
virtues are formed within us, and the divine image is
begun to be stamped upon our minds. We should be
restless and impatient in our inward searches, whether
we are made new creatures, whether we are born of
God, and become his children, and are secured by his
gospel, from this everlasting vengeance. The degree
and the infinite duration of this misery should appoint
the proportion of our zeal and solicitude to escape it.
A man who sees or feels his own house on fire under
him, does not continue upon his bed of sloth, or sit
amusing himself among the ornaments of his chamber,
till the flames have broke through and seized him ; but
with huge outcries he seeks for help, and flies in haste
for his life, wheresoever he finds a way. Such should
be the language, and such the activity of sinful creatures,
to escape the wrath to come ; and such will be the out-
cries of sinners when they are thoroughly awakened ;
this language of every place, and every hour, will then
be awakened ; what shall I do to he saved? Whither
shall I fly for refuge P O blessed Jesus, receive me
into thy protection, and be thou my deliverer.
Give me leave to repeat this sort of expostulation with
lingering and delaying sinners, or with drowsy and
448 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
formal christians. If you would set yourselves often
in the blaze of these everlasting burnings, you would
never satisfy yourselves with such cold, faint wishes,
such lazy endeavors, such languid efforts of faith and
repentance, to escape this fiery indignation that shall
never be quenched. Nor would you content yourselves
with dark and doubtful evidences of your interest in the
love of God, and the grace of our Lord Jesus ; but you
would be day and niglit busy with your own hearts, in
the most intimate and careful search after converting
grace and living Christianity. You would never be at
rest till you felt the new nature working with power
and briglit evidence within you, that you might be able
to say, '^ we know there is no condemnation belongs to
us, but that we are passed from death unto life."
Let us proceed upon this subject, turning the discourse
from ourselves to our friends, and say with what fervor
of love, with what holy zeal and compassion, should we
labor to save our friends and all that are dear to us,
from this eternal destruction ? What words of fiery
terror shall we clioose to awaken those who slumber on
the edge of endless burnings ? What language of kind
and tender passion shall we clioose to reach their
hearts ? What phrases of melting pity to hasten tlieir
escape from this precipice of burning ruin, or to pluck
them as brands out of the fire, before it becomes un-
quenchable? Knowing these terrors of the Lord, with
what vehemence of zeal should we try to persuade men,
our fellow mortals, that they would not venture into the
midst of these miseries, and beseech them in the name
of Christ, to be reconciled to God ? This was the prac-
tice, and these the motives of the great apostle, as he
describes them at tlie latter end of the fifth chapter in
liis second epistle to the Corinthians.
O with what force of ardent and active compassion
should ministers preach both the curses of the law, and
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 449
the grace of the blessed gospel, to perishing sinners,
and make haste to rescue their souls from this everlast-
ing vengeance ? With what warm and solicitous zeal
should they lay hold of thoee poor thoughtless wretches
who are madly indulging their lusts and follies, and
thereby preparing themselves to become fit fuel for this
eternal fire ? They are forming themselves by their in"-
iquitics to become vessels of this everlasting indignation.
Let us seize tliem by some kind and constraining words
of love, some outcries of compassion and fear, lest they
rush into those flames which will never be quenched.
Perhaps when they are summoned away from us by the
stroke of death, they may leave us in the most uncom-
fortable sorrows for our neglect, while they are suflTering
the long endless punishment due to their own iniquities.
Keflection VI. How unreasonable a thing is it for us
ministers, who are charged and entrusted with the whole
counsel of God for the salvation of men, to avoid the
mention of these his eternal terrors in our sermons, and
in our addresses to mortal creatures ! creatures who are
daily preparing themselves for them by their sins, and
are ready to plunge into the midst of them ! Has not
our blessed Saviour made frequent mention of them in
his gospel, and set them in their dreadful array before
his hearers? Has he not expressed them in their
strongest terms, and spread them in their most frightful
colors, and set them in their full and everlasting extent,
before the sinners which attended his ministry? And
did he ever give any hint that they sliould be understood
in a milder sense ? Have not the apostles followed
their Lord in the same dreadful display of the sharp
and ever-during punishments of hell? And have they
taught us to qualify these terrors by gentler interpreta-
tions of them ? And have not such kind of discourses
been abundantly blessed in the providence of Grod, both
57
450 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
in ancient and later ages, to awaken and save inulti
tudes of the sonls of men ?
How many holy and happy spirits are now rejoicing
before God, and before the throne of his love, and en-
compassed with all the joys of immortality, who owe
the beginnings of their repentance, and the first turn of
their souls towards faith and salvation to such words of
terror as these ? How many of the saints on high, have
been first awakened from their deadly sleep in sin, by
the ministrations of this eternal vengeance of God ?
How many have been frighted out of their indolence at
first, by the discovery of these everlasting horrors of
conscience, and agonies of soul ? The dread of the
worm tliat never dies, has aifrighted their consciences
from a course of sin ; the fiery indignation which shall
never be quenched, has flashed in their bosoms from
the lips of tlie preacher, and lias set them all over trem-
bling, and filled all their inward powers with dismay
and anguish ; their tongue has broke into loud and
earnest inquiries, Who shall deliver me from this
eternal death ? How shall I escape this everlasting
wrath to come ? And the Spirit of God by degrees has
led them to Jesus, and his atoning blood, his gospel, his
righteousness, and his converting grace, as the only way
of deliverance and salvation.
How unreasonable a thing is it for ministers in their
preaching, to soften these terrors of the Lord, to cut
short tiiese endless horrors and anguish, and to mitigate
the miseries of hell and damnation, since even all that
length and eternity in which Christ and his apostles
preached these terrors, have not been suificient to reclaini
mankind from their iniquities ; but multitudes of them,
in the face of all these threatenings, still persist in the
broad way to destruction and death ?
Can we possibly do any honor to the ministry of our
PUNISHMENTS OP HELL. 4)51
blessed Lord, or is there any real service done to the
souls of men by our fond and vain reasonings to shorten
these sorrows, and put a period to these threatened tor-
ments ? Will the blessed Jesus, when he sits on the
throne of judgment, give us thanks for running counter
to the language of his own ministry, and for daring to
contradict his denounced vengeance ?
By the various expressions and representations of this
matter in scripture, in such solemn and dreadful lan-
guage, must 1 not suppose that th« blessed God, and
our Lord Jesus Christ, designed and intended that man-
kind should believe the pains and punishments of hell
will be eternal ? Can I then be censured for endeavor-
ing to establish and promote the awful doctrine which
botli God the Father and his Son intended should be
believed, and by which they designed to guard both the
law and the gospel ? A doctrine which was left on re-
cord to deter sinners from the paths of sin and destruc-
tion, and to awaken the souls and consciences of men
to repentance ? On the other hand, can those teachers
be approved of God or good men, whose evident design
is to lead the world to disbelieve this solemn and terri-
ble warning of the great God ?
Let us proceed in these enquiries, and address our-
selves to those wicked and miserable creatures, wlio are
actually suifering this divine vengeance. Let us ask
them, how they approve of this sort of preaching which
withholds from the eyes, and ears, and consciences of
men, the most dreadful circumstance of these horrors ?
Will any of the damned wretches of hell thank us for
hiding so dreadful a part of these miseries from them ?
Will they bless us for lessening the threatened curses
and indignation of a God ? " No, says the condemned
wretch, those preachers are worthy of my curses and not
my thanks, w^ho abated tliese terrors of the Lord, and
452 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE
shortened his threatened punishment ; for they persuad-
ed me to hope tliere would be an end of my misery, and
thereby tempted me to venture upon those sins which
I should have renounced with abomination, had I
believed the words of God, and these everlasting tor-
ments. O cursed and cruel preachers, who, by soften-
ing and curtailing the sentence of eternal misery, gave
a sort of licence to my wickedness, and broke one of the
strongest bars that restrained me from sinning ! It is by
this sort of flattery they paved my way down to hellj
and have brought me into this prison, this eternal an-
guish, whence there is no release.''*
Say, ye who preach that the gates of hell shall one
day be opened to let out the prisoners, ye who tell sin-
ners there is a time of release for them, say, do ye ex-
pect to fright them out of their sins by lessening their
fear of God and his wrath to come ? Do ye hope to
bring obstinate and impenitent rebels to a more speedy
remorse for sin, and to begin a life of holiness, by per-
sua?liug them that these terrors of God shall have an
end ? Can ye imagine that such vain tidings, such sooth-
ing flattery, will ever melt them to re))entance and love,
when all the grace of the gospel, mingled with the blood
and tears of the Son of God will not do it ? Would not
this manner of preaching rather encourage them to run
on still in their rebellions, and make them more regard-
less of their highest interest ? Would it not tempt them
to give a loose to their vilest inclinations, and all the
flagrant and abominable enormities of their own heart,
when they shall be told that these punishments, which
* Some of the ancients have called those preachers, who shorten the pains
of hell, the merciful or compassionate doctors. And Dr. T. Burnet calls
those merciless or uncompassionate, who preach the eternity of it. But I
think it will appear one day, that those are truly the compassionate writers
and teachers, who most effectually affright and prevent men from sin and
damnation ; and those wlio have given wicked men hope of their release
from hell, will be in danger of being charged with smoothing their way to
this miser}', by softening the terrors of it.
PUNISHMENTS OF HELL. 453
the Bible calls everlastings shall one day come to an
end?
Besides, I believe it has been observed in every age,
that the fears of this worm tvhich never dies, and this
eternal fire which shall never he quenched, have been
made abundantly useful in the providence of God to lay
a powerful restraint on the unruly vices of some sinners,
who have never been awakened and drawn into saving
penitence, or reclaimed to a life of sincere holiness.
And, if tlie restraint of this terror were taken away,
tow much more would all iniquity abound among those
who have no inward principle of goodness ?
Let us proceed then to preach the same terror which
the blessed Jesus thought not unworthy of liis ministry ;
and may the providence and the grace of God give suc-
cess to our labors, both for the restraining the extrava-
gant vices of the wicked, for the saving conversion of
many sinners, and for a guard and restraint to the young
and wavering christians.*
* The late Dr. Thomas Burnet, in his Latin treatise of the state of the
dead, and those who rise again, opposes the doctrine of the eternity of future
punishments, and shews who of the ancient fathers seem to be of th"e same
opinion with him. But he tells us, tliat these ancient fathers, when they
treated of this subject, often gave the same advice to others, which he
himself gives in these words. " Whatsoever you determine within yourself,
and in your own breast, concerning these punishments, whether they are
eternal or no, yet you ought to use the common doctrine and the common
language when you preach or speak to the people, especially those of
the lower rank, who are ready to run headlong into vice, and are to be re-
strained from evil only by the fear of punishment. And even among good
christians there are infants to be nourished with milk ; nor is their diet to be
rashly changed, lest through intemperance they fall into diseases."
And he adds in the margin, " whosoever shall translate these sentiments
Into our mother tongue, I shall think it was done with an evil design and to
bad purpose." So that if this were a true doctrine, vet the learned author
agrees, that neither the holy writers of the Bible, nor the fathers, think it
proper that the bulk of the people should know it. But if it should not be
translated, I would ask, why did the author write it and leave it to be pub-
lished ? Did lie suppose all men and boys, who understood Latin, to be sufB-
ciently guarded against the abuse of such an opinion '
454? THE ETERNAL UUUAilON OF 'I'HE
Notwithstanding all the express language of scripture
on our side of the question, and all our arguments drawn
from it ; yet there arc some of the reasoners and the
disputers of this world, wlio will still suppose that it is
more for the honor of God, and for the glory of our
blessed Saviour, for ministers to dwell always upon the
promises of the new covenant, and the riches of the
grace of Christ, and the overflowing measures of the
love of God, in order to save sinful men. '•^ Surely say
they, preachers have tried long enough what tlie words
of terror will do ; let us now allure sinful men to be re-
conciled to God by a ministry of universal love and
grace ; and let us see whether the boundless compas-
sions of a God, in putting a final period to the miseries
of his guilty creatures after a certain number of years,
will not draw sinners with a sweeter violence to the love
and obedience of their Maker, than all this doctrine of
severity and terror.'"
In the first place, 1 answer, that surel}^ Jesus liimself
who is the prime minister of his Fatlier's kingdom, and
the divinest messenger of his love, knew better than we
do how to pay the highest honor to his heavenly Father,
and to display his own grace. Surely he vras well ac-
quainted with the best v, ay to begin with sinners, in or-
der to their reconciliation to God, and knew also the most
effectual avenues to the consciences of sinful creatures,
incomparably beyond what any of us can pretend to.
Had lie not as tender a sense of the honor of his Father's
mercy, as warm a zeal for the glory of his own grace
and gospel, and as wise and melting a compassion for
the souls of men as the best of us can boast of? And
yet he thought it proper to lay the foundation of his own
and his apostles ministrations of grace, in this language
of terror, in tliese threatenings of eternal punishment.
And in tbe course of his providence throngliout all ages
PUNISH^IENTS OF HELL. 455
Jie has, iu some measure, made this doctrine successful
to recover souls from the snares of the devil, and to en-
large his own lieavenly kingdom.
Bat I answer further, it must be granted that the tem-
pers of men are various, and it is possible tltat some
may be of so ingenuous and refined a disposition, that
the words of love and grace, without any terror, miglit
reach their hearts, and through the influences of heaven,
touch them eifectually. But as for tlic bulk of mankind,
while they continue in their sins, daily experience con-
vinceth us, that they are best awakened by the terrors
of the Lord, by a representation of the gnawing icorm
ttihich never dies, and i\\Q fire lahich shall not be quench-
ed. I never knew but one person in the whole course
of my ministry, who acknowledged that the first motions
of religion in their own heart arose from a sense of the
goodness of God, and that they were gently and sv/eetly
led at first to this enquiry. What shall I render to the
Lord icho hath dealt so hountifidhj ivith me 9 But I think
all besides, who have come within my notice, have rather
been first awakened, by the passion of fear, to fly from
the wrath to come.
If, therefore, we will practice, according to the ex-
ample of Jesus, the greatest and the wisest prophet of
his church, and his holy apostles, and the best of preach-
ers in all ages who have followed him, if we would obey
the dictates of long experience, and our best observation
on the methods of converting grace, I think we must
proceed to denounce these eternal terrors of the Lord
against the transgressors of his law, and the despisers of
his gospel. This seems to be the appointed and most ef-
fectual way to rouse their consciences to seek a deliver-
ance from the curses of the law, which carry in them
everlasting punishment. This appears to be the first
spring of religion in sinful men, and the first motive to
456 THE ETERNAL DURATION, &c,
receive the glad tidings of salvation w hich are displayed
in the New Testament. This spurs on their passions
to escape the vengeance of God, by flying to his gospel,
where there is rich and abundant grace to encourage
the hope of rebellious creatures in their returns to God
by Jesus Christ the Saviour. To Jesus, who is the
awful messenger of his Father's terrors, and the prime
minister of his love, be glory and honor to everlasting
ages. Amen.
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